Mallow pay parking controversy – “The people of Mallow have had enough!”

Mallow Labour Councillor James Kennedy has de-manded that Cork County Council cancel the contract with a private firm for the operation of pay parking in Mallow, and to operate it with council staff. Speaking after a meeting of Cork Co. Council this Monday, Cllr Kennedy said, “Over €1.4 million has left Mallow over the last five years to pay for a private firm to operate in our public car parks. The people of Mallow have had enough and [at the meeting] I demanded that we restore the operation to council employees, not private firms.
“I would like to thank the councillors from the Mallow Electoral Area for supporting me, but I was extremely sad to hear Cllr John Paul O’Shea saying he could not support the motion,” he said, adding that, “I know that Cllr O’Shea said that the same motion had been tabled at the last meeting of Mallow Municipal District, but I was merely raising the matter at Chief Executive level.”
The Mallow councillor went on to say: “We have now sought clarification on the powers of the Mallow Electoral Area Councillors to cancel this contract. It should not be left up to the unelected Executive. Abolishing a private firm’s presence in the town of Mallow would send a very clear signal that we want to reinvest monies generated in Mallow for the community of Mallow and surrounding areas.
“The Council Executive can demur all they like, but change is coming. I will not stop fighting for this issue to be resolved,” he said.
Mallow TD Seán Sherlock emphasised the importance of the council dealing with this matter swiftly. “People have had enough, over €1.4 million and rising is a travesty of public money being wasted,” he said. “Imagine what we could have done in Mallow over the last five years. Now, with representation through James Kennedy, real issues are being heard at council,”