Motorhome Tourists not Welcome in County Roscommon

Numbers usually speak volums. We should locate a large suitable location to park a large number of motorhomes and hold a rally somewhere in co. Roscommon. They could hardly do us all.

niloc1951 wrote: »

Not Roscommon
Tinteniac France for free a couple of weeks ago :D:D:D
and Port Vendre also France a short while later for E4.70 :D

Oh wow, you've really made my day with that bit of info:mad:.

I'm sure we're all really really pleased to know that you went there just to check it out for us;).

irishllanaber wrote: »

How can one council use their common sense and another be so backward....
http://www.visitstrangfordlough.co.uk/Utility-menu/News/Aire-de-Service-opening-in-Donaghadee
Make sure you put Donaghadee on your list when up north

Had a quick look at this website. Looks good.

Am I right in thinking that parking is free and tokens only needed for elec. etc. ?

Irishgoatman wrote: »

Had a quick look at this website. Looks good.

Am I right in thinking that parking is free and tokens only needed for elec. etc. ?

Yeah parking is free.

Just back from spending a few days travelling around west Cork, and while its a lovely part of the world, they're not the most accommodating to motorhomers. Any beach car park, picnic area, place of interest had a barrier on it.

Irishgoatman wrote:

Re: Penalties for overnight parking.

Despite having sent a further email to the council I have still had no reply to my question of what the penalties would be.

Does this mean that there are no penalties?. That although they have made it an offence they forgot about what the consequencies would be? A nasty slap on the wrist perhaps?

OOOH I wouldn't like that:D.

I also doubt anybody could or would enforce the law. The council only work until 4 30 every day. And if a garda was to come knocking, he could hardly tell u to move on if u told him u had a glass of wine too many.

It would be a very good defence if there are no signs prohibiting the overnight parking and indicating the penalty. (I didn't see any sign guard!!)
It is also unlikely that local guards would enforce what is a local bye law if there is lack of clarity/signage etc. from the local authority.
I have no doubt they have much more serious infringements to pursue with ever decreasing resources.

Irishgoatman wrote: »

I cannot see that you could be considered as being in charge of a motor vehicle for prosecution purposes if you were parked up for the night and having a drink in your camper:eek:, or actually bedded down for the night after having had a drink.
If this were to be the case I would have thought that many of us would have been in court by now.

It's the same thing as sitting in your car. You could start it up and drive away.

Irishgoatman wrote: »

I don't see it being the same at all unless you're sitting behind the wheel or in the front passenger seat, with the keys either in the ignition or in your hand. And that would be stupid.

To follow your line of thinking, I have had a few glasses of wine tonight, my car is parked in the driveway, I could just as easily get in it and drive it as with the campervan.
I've never heard of anyone being prosecuted, or even warned, for sitting in their camper drinking or when they've had a drink. The idea with me is to be able to go to a music session, have a few (?) drinks and not drive home. This is what I do. This is what I will continue to do.

To do anything else would strike me as being paranoid.

It's more to do with being in the proximity of a pub in your car/vehicle after having a few drinks with the keys and the potential to drive it. Bit of a vague area where the law is concerned. Being in your house with the car in the driveway is not the same thing at all. Unlikely that anything would happen if you were in your MH set up to stay the night.

Irishgoatman wrote:

*Kol* wrote:

I wouldn't go down that road with the gardai, admitting you are over the limit in charge of a motor vehicle in a public place. Could end badly.

I cannot see that you could be considered as being in charge of a motor vehicle for prosecution purposes if you were parked up for the night and having a drink in your camper:eek:, or actually bedded down for the night after having had a drink.
If this were to be the case I would have thought that many of us would have been in court by now.

I a ready had that suituation while parked on the outskirts of Limerick city. Had just returned to my motorhome at about 2 30 am by taxi. When there was a knock on the door and a Garda was standing there smiling at me. He told me he liked my convieniant sleeping accomadation and to be sure that I didn't move untill a reasonable hour the following day. Then he asked could he have a nose inside because he would love one. Then he went on his merry way.

@my friend welcome to the Motorhomes & Campervans thread.

I don't see the contradiction at all. We have a degree of self-sufficiency that allows us to dwell in any given location for a short period of time. Now I don't know about you, but when it comes to spending my holiday budget I am quite happy to spend it on goods and services that I need and not at all happy to spend it on ones that I don't. A town or enterprise that welcomes my business by providing facilitates that meet my needs is more likely to get my daily budget spend than one that attempts to force me to pay for services that I neither need nor want. However, may I also point our that when I do want the additional services and advantages of being on a campsite and I consider it value for money then I am quite happy to pay for it.

Our (the camper van community) spend in a locality on food, entertainment, leisure activities etc helps to make those businesses more viable. Something which the people of Greystones have clearly recognised. If businesses are viable then they also exist to provide their service to other local and tourists thereby making the location even more attractive as a destination. Everybody wins. Who wants to visit a town full of closed down businesses? Unfortunately, some people are two narrow minded or too afflicted by self-interest myopia to see this. On the other hand, thankfully there are increasing signs of communities such as Greystones being innovative and enterprising in these challenging times.

Another point for your to consider is the annual spend of Camper Van owners just to have a camper in the first place. Insurance, Tax, Maintenance, Accessories etc all of these are economic activity and directly contribute to jobs, the tax take and the GDP of the country. By my estimate it costs a minimum of €800 annually (breakdown below) to keep a camper van in this country and that is without doing any milage. I believe that there are over 10,000 camper vans registered in this country so that is an annual economic activity of €800 * 10,000 or a cool €8m that the camper van community contributes to the economy before any of us turn the key in the ignition. And btw that does not include camper van sales or spend on accessories!

Something else you might consider is that a proportion of van are rented. Camper van rental is expensive and therefore creates high value spend in the economy. In fact, a local or foreigner renting a camper van in Ireland if probably one of the highest revenue generators in tourism and we should be encouraging more of it. Another proportion are visitors who have come in their own camper to experience Ireland. They bring their much need Euros and sterling with them and also help to ensure that our ports and shipping lines remain viable for other economic activity. Including making it more cost competitive for foreign car and motorbike owners, who will need accommodation, to take driving holiday in Ireland.

Additionally, my friend, if we both decide to visit Greystones this weekend and we both have a budget lets say of €100 and we both spend it there but you spend more on accommodation than I do can you please explain why your €100 spend is better than mine? And before I sign off, in my town it is locals that work in Tesco are we not allowed support their jobs also? Or are their jobs somehow less valuable to that of someone working in the local hotel? If so can you please be the one to tell them.

Finally, I know this is your first post in this forum and perhaps the etiquette is different on the forums you frequent but on here we tend to be respectful of others and generally find it unnecessary to to excessively enlarge and bold a previous posters comments when we wish to make a response. After all why risk being interpreted as being rude when all you want to do is engage in debate?

As I said welcome to the forum, why not stick around you'd never know maybe one day you will buy or rent a camper van for yourself.


Breakdown
Insurance ~€380
Tax ~€95
Road worthiness Test ~€45 PA (Double this if the van is over 10 years)
Annual Service ~€150
Tyres ~€150 (thats about the cost of one tyre)
Habitation check ~€150

If you do the maths that actually totals up to €970 but not every one would do an annual habitation check so I took €800 as a reasonable estimate of the average.

niloc1951 wrote: »

Perhaps you should re-read the comments attributed to the business community of Greystones in relation to the benefits they saw to their local economy.

Exactly.

The people from Motorhomecraic.com that were in the news article spent money in the Petrol Stations, the Bar and the Cafe. Made apparent by how welcome they were made and by the news article.