Ticketing mass visitors

dr.fuzzenstein

Finally! It seems one part of Irish culture is to drive down to mass, abandon the car any old how and if anyone complains, just scream "I was going to MASS!", as if that makes it ok to park in roundabouts, flowerbeds, across fire exits, three abreast, blocking main roads and otherwise just being piggish and ignorant.
Galway Co Co ticketed Solemn Novena visitors, who displayed exactly that type of behaviour and of course are flooded with a storm of outrage along the lines of "But I was going to CHURCH! I SHOULD have the right to abandon my car where I want without consideration for others!"
Only a shame they wheren't clamped IMO:
http://www.galwaynews.ie/30259-council-unrepentant-novena-ticketing-blitz

alias no.9

About time. Galway is always a disaster during this damn thing. You'll get the usual whining about how elderly people have to park close to the cathedral because they can't walk long distances but it's ok for them to block foothpaths so that other elderly people can't get by in wwheelchairs or block entire roads so emergency services can't get by to come to the aid of other elderly people.
You'd swear they had no notice that this was going to happen. Let them organize busses from their parish churches that can drop them in a set down area right outside the cathedral, it's not that ****ing hard to do.
It's right up there with the yummie mummies parking on footpaths outside schools because they have to get as close to the school gate as possible because it's too dangerous for their little darlings to walk 100m because of all the cars parked on the footpaths.

Anan1

alias no.9 wrote: »

It's right up there with the yummie mummies parking on footpaths outside schools because they have to get as close to the school gate as possible because it's too dangerous for their little darlings to walk 100m because of all the cars parked on the footpaths.

IMO it's worse. At least the mummies aren't simultaneously proclaiming themselves to be following Christ's example.

MugMugs

Saturday night, opposite the Garda station in Dundalk is a church and the parking is just outright comical.

tritium

Donegal is the worst I've seen for this! On one visit up there we came back to find our (legally parked) car penned in by lines of mass goers who'd dumped their cars outside the church. They were triple parked on both sides of the road

And there was an empty carpark a hundred yards up the road that was free to use on Sundays !

Padraig Mor

I see that Councillor Crowe, in criticising the ticketing, has expanded from the usual cry of "Sure I was only there for a few minutes" excusing dangerous parking to looking for a 'holy exemption' from traffic law of 40 minutes.

leeroybrown

The Novena traffic is a nightmare for anyone who has to drive anywhere near the Cathedral during it. People just abandon their cars wherever there's space to avoid walking a bit further to mass. The last time I had to drive by it I spent 15 minutes just sitting there on University road watching the mass attendees drive away because the Gardaí had been instructed to let all of the people cause the problem have an easy ride while everyone who had to be there sat and watched.

Grolschevik

Worst I've seen in Dublin was a funeral in Baldoyle. Cars parked on both footpaths of a narrow section for a few hundred yards. Caused massive congestion when a bus and another vehicle couldn't pass each other or go back. I didn't stick it out, but it took a 12-point turn to get away...

monkeypants

Anan1 wrote: »

IMO it's worse. At least the mummies aren't simultaneously proclaiming themselves to be following Christ's example.

It wasn't Christ, it was a centurion who parked his chariot on the grass at Gethsemane.

hardCopy

alias no.9 wrote: »

It's right up there with the yummie mummies parking on footpaths outside schools because they have to get as close to the school gate as possible because it's too dangerous for their little darlings to walk 100m because of all the cars parked on the footpaths.

We should have a national parking/stopping/alighting ban of at least 1 kilometre around all schools.

Imagine the improvements to traffic and health if we brought that in.

monkeypants

Padraig Mor wrote: »

'holy exemption'

This man would hand those out.

ABajaninCork

Ha ha. Reminds me of a funeral I once went to in London. This particular church is situated in an area known to be patrolled by traffic wardens, and is in a P & D zone. So my neighbour & I parked some distance away from the church, paid for 2 hours (It was a West Indian funeral after all, and are not known for being short & sweet! :pac:), and went on our way.

Came out to find the wardens had ticketed EVERYBODY. Including the hearse!!! I didn't get a ticket though...

Grolschevik

ABajaninCork wrote: »

Including the hearse!!! :.

Well at least they didn't clamp it!

ABajaninCork

Grolschevik wrote: »

Well at least they didn't clamp it!

No. But the bastard council were there with the tow trucks. The Funeral Director went mad! Funniest thing I'd seen in ages...

Mind you - it was bang out of order to even ticket the hearse.

Grolschevik

ABajaninCork wrote: »

No. But the bastard council were there with the tow trucks. The Funeral Director went mad! Funniest thing I'd seen in ages...

Mind you - it was bang out of order to even ticket the hearse.

Towing a hearse! There's a "Weekend at Bernie's" sequel in that.

monkeypants

Would health and safety prevent clamping or towing a hearse. It does have a decomposing corpse in the back.

ABajaninCork

This is London mate! They don't give a sh1t what they tow and where...

hardCopy

monkeypants wrote: »

Would health and safety prevent clamping or towing a hearse. It does have a decomposing corpse in the back.

Wouldn't the corpse be in the church when they got it?

dr.fuzzenstein

hardCopy wrote: »

We should have a national parking/stopping/alighting ban of at least 1 kilometre around all schools.

Imagine the improvements to traffic and health if we brought that in.

And that's the downside of Parish Pump Politics.
All the councillors are too scared to upset their voting public and a large slice of the population sees it as their God Given Right to just dump their cars anywhere at any time. Usually the same people who are 134 years old, deaf, half blind, senile, hopped up on medication, who have a God Given Right To Be On The Road.
The Gardai and Traffic Wardens either seem unwilling or unable to do anything about it, probably councillors leaning on them (If you ticket these people I'll get slaughtered at the polls, so go easy) and the population has been getting away with it for decades.
It's like a spoilt child.
Imagine a young child that has had no education or manners taught to it whatsoever. You don't have to, you see them screaming their heads off, running around and their parents doing nothing.
If you where to care for such a child, you would first encounter resistance, temper tantrums, screaming, throwing stuff, hitting you.
It's the same with people parking. They know they can get away with it and the only way to deal with it is the iron fist, I'm afraid.
A few months of merciless ticketing, towing and clamping and anyone who kicks up and/or threatens the wardens, trip to the Garda Station and on repeat offence a court appearance for threatening behaviour.
Problem would be sorted within 6 months.

monkeypants

hardCopy wrote: »

Wouldn't the corpse be in the church when they got it?

Are they going to bury in in the church?

leeroybrown

The Cathedral's a sturdy building. Maybe it could be converted to a multi-storey car park.

bazz26

This is how it's done.