By-laws for camper vans unwarranted as councillor claims “major disruption” at Dromod Harbour

A discussion on the parking of camper vans at Dromod Harbour led to a disagreement between councillors about the impact they were having on the local community.

Cllr Des Guckian proposed at the Carrick-on-Shannon Municipal District meeting this month that new by-laws to control the parking of camper vans, etc and the abuse of spaces near Dromod Harbour be immediately published and clearly posted up for all users to see.

He said this was necessary “to end the mayhem experienced by all good users, including locals, of this fine facility, over the past year.”

However, during the debate it was pointed out that a decision had already been made by the Council that by-laws were not warranted, while other councillors said they did not want any negative impressions of the county going out from the meeting and that visitors must be encouraged to come and stay in Leitrim.

Cllr Guckian said people had commented to him that the harbour was chock-a- block and completely full up over the Easter weekend with loud music and generators.
“It is completely ridiculous it was allowed,” he said.

Joseph Gilhooly, Director of Services, in reply to Cllr Guckian’s motion said, "This matter was considered by this Municipal District at the October 2022 meeting where it was referred to the Corporate Policy Group (CPG) for further consideration.

“At the October CPG meeting, the introduction of by-laws in respect of parking of camper vans was considered by the members. At that meeting it was agreed by the members that the introduction of by-laws in this regard would need to be considered in the context of their impact on the entire county and that their development and introduction were not warranted but will remain under review.”

Cllr Sean McGowan agreed there was camper vans there over Easter weekend but he spoke to Dromod Development and some businesses and they were very welcoming of any tourism to Dromod and to Leitrim.

He did say that you would hear differing reports about their benefit to the area but said most of the people who come in camper vans are “decent people and seemingly doing no harm in the village.”
Cllr McGowan said it was hard to keep everyone happy.

Cllr Thomas Mulligan said the CPG committee got feedback that this wasn't something that was causing disruption or discomfort for people living in Dromod Harbour.

He said the committee was of the opinion “it was not necessary to go down the road of making by-laws in situations where it was not warranted; the committee was quite clear on that and didn't feel it necessary.”
Cllr Mulligan said it could certainly be looked at again in the future if a problem persisted.

Cllr Finola Armstrong- McGuire said business people welcome camper vans and said they wanted as many people as possible to come to the county, in particular to official sites at Lough Rinn and at nearby Lough Key.

She said the Council and Leitrim Tourism is doing a lot to promote the county and bring people in and “anyone who visits the county, spends in the county.”
Cllr Armstrong-McGuire said anything negative would have to be addressed and she would not like to see litter left behind.

Cllr Enda Stenson said he understood the situation and said it has to be treated delicately. He said Leitrim is a tourist based county with business people in both Dromod and Drumsna.

“We have got to encourage people in rather than sending out any negative views from this meeting,” he said.

Cllr Guckian, however, said there was “absolutely no doubt some of these guys in camper vans are causing major disruption.” He said the people on the boats are the ones that go to the local restaurants and their rights are being impinged upon as much as any of the locals.

Cllr Guckian argued that there was “great unanimity” when he put in his previous motion about by-laws.
He said the people in the camper vans “have no right to come in and take over to the detriment of everyone else.”

Cllr McGowan said he wouldn’t like the impression to go out that these people were causing noise; they were spending money locally and were welcome in the area by Dromod Development.

Cllr Guckian said they all welcomed visitors but these people were “of a type that were denying people their rights to enjoy the peace of the area.”

Darragh O’Boyle, District Engineer, said parking camper vans in the car park, which is owned by Leitrim County Council, is not illegal. All other areas in the harbour are owned by Waterways Ireland.

He said they never had by-laws on this and previously had signage up but they could not be enforced and so took them down.

Mr O’Boyle said if vehicles are illegally parked or causing an obstruction that is an offence under the Road Traffic Act and can be dealt with by the Gardai or traffic wardens.

“There are no traffic wardens there,” said Cllr Guckian.