PARKING: Local election candidate Neily O'Connor (centre), is campaigning for designated car parking spaces in local car parks for the elderly. Pictured in Fair Hill car park were: Director of Elections Dan O'Connor, Brenda O'Connor, Christy Moynihan, Margaret McCarthy and Nora Moriarty. At the back were: Pat McCarthy, Philomena Moynihan and Tim Moriarty. Picture: Eamonn Keogh

By Michelle Crean

Killarney man and local election hopeful Neily O’Connor is calling on the Council to give senior citizens priority when it comes to parking in Killarney town.
Neily, a well-known entertainer, who is running for Fianna Fáil for the Killarney electoral area, says the provision of designated car park spaces will give older citizens easy access to all amenities, including post offices, banks, medical centres and all public offices within the town.
“These measures will help our elderly in maintaining their independence while also sending out a strong signal to society that Killarney goes further towards valuing its senior citizens,” Neily told the Killarney Advertiser this week.
“With our new vibrant culture, as a society we need to lead by example and let our young people see we respect the needs and values of that generation.”
He is also calling for a town parking app to be introduced so that drivers can easily locate free spaces within the town alleviating some of the congestion.
“We continuously drive around the town looking for a car space and while we're doing this we are actually adding to the volume of traffic and creating more congestion. We need a parking app so that we can just check our phone to see the available parking spaces and drive straight to it rather than driving around in circles.”
The addition of strategically located real time parking screens would also help alleviate the present traffic congestion particularly during the summer season, he added.
“The information would instantly inform locals and tourists as to the availability of car park spaces. With Killarney being a leading tourist destination visitors expect these facilities as the norm. I'm continuously meeting people when out canvassing saying to me they are not coming in to Killarney during the summer months because of the parking chaos - so urgent action is required now.”