The misuse of disabled parking bays and disabled parking permits were the issues highlighted at the launch of ‘Operation Enable’, a multi-agency initiative involving An Garda Síochána, Sligo County Council, Irish Wheelchair Association and the Disabled Drivers’ Association.
Operation Enable
‘Operation Enable’ targets misuse of disabled parking bays
Thursday 10th December has been identified as the date for the roll-out of the campaign
The Cathaoirleach of Sligo County Council Councillor Dara Mulvey said
‘Our main objective at today’s launch is to highlight the issues involved for the general public, and to set out in simple terms the implications for non-compliance with the law in this regard. It is all too regularly that we witness incidents of misuse of Disabled parking bays, it is an everyday occurrence due to the actions of a small minority of motorists.’
The Chair of Sligo County Council’s Disability Consultative Committee Councillor Declan Bree said
‘This is not an issue exclusively for the Gardaí and the traffic wardens, it is a challenge for the whole community to convey a forceful message that we will no longer tolerate these actions. It will require a process of education and a campaign of deterrence to convince the offending motorists that there will be implications for this behaviour, and there are severe penalties for people who are convicted of an offence under the relevant legislation.’
Richard Ryder, Communications Manager, Disabled Drivers’ Association
“The availability of wheelchair accessible parking spaces is an essential lifeline for disabled drivers, the most common excuse given by motorists illegally parking in disabled bays is ‘I’ll only be a minute’ or ‘I’ll move if somebody comes along” adding “That’s never the case however and illegal parking like this causes genuine misery.”
Superintendent Mandy Gaynor, Sligo and Superintendent Padraic Burke, Ballymote attended the launch of Operation Enable and confirmed details of a county wide day of action on Thursday10th December.