*The promenade car park in Lahinch. Photograph: John Mangan
OVER HALF a million euro has been generated in parking fines and charges at Lahinch across a 27 month period.
Parking fines in Lahinch more than tripled last year rising from €3,155 in 2024 to €9,790 in 2025. For the first three months of 2026, €710 was collected from fines.
Lahinch’s parking charges are also increasing, jumping from €225,224 in 2024 to €271,724 in 2025 and already for January, February and March in 2026 the figure stands at €33,411.
From both parking charges and fines, the Council generated €544,034 from Lahinch in 2024, 2025 and the first three months of this year for the upper promenade, lower car park and the Liscannor Rd car park.
Cathaoirleach of the West Clare Municipal District, Cllr Bill Slattery (FG) said he was frustrated with the lack of return visible in Lahinch from the finance generated. “We’re being deprived of services in North Clare, Lahinch is no longer from June to September as Clare County Council seem to think, that is gone, it is busy year-round with surfers, day swimmers, golfers, it is more than a three month season”.
Cllr Slattery confirmed that he made a complaint to the Council over the condition of the promenade over the May Bank Holiday weekend, “the response I received was we didn’t have the manpower”. Lahinch was the first car park in the country in the 1980s to implement such charges, he recalled, “Frank Henchy was a councillor at the time, it was under duress that he agreed for them to come in, the agreement was for the money brought in to be retained there”.
With fees of €228,399 in 2024 and €281,514 in 2025, the funds are “sufficient to pay for staff to the clean the streets,” he stressed. “The money is down because of the campervan situation, they are taking up spaces, I want Clare County Council to give a guarantee that Lahinch will be looked after from Easter at least to end of October”. Addressing the top table, he commented, “I know ye were disappointed I kicked up a rumpus over what happened but people were annoyed with the state it was in”.
Seconding the proposal at Wednesday’s West Clare MD sitting, Cllr Shane Talty (FF) stated, “We don’t want to go down the rabbit hole of who pays more rates, there’s quarter of a million per year collected in Lahinch”. He flagged, “the valuation of rates for businesses in Lahinch is significant and they have seen huge increases over two years, the collection of the two together is unlike any other, outside the areas of principle population of Ennis and Shannon”.
Providing his “back of the envelope maths,” Cllr Talty calculated that the figures pulled in on parking alone would equate to five full-time equivalent staff within the Council. “We have pristine public toilets, the season has extended to a twelve month season, even a mediocre weather forecast you will get day trippers at our coastal locations like Lahinch and elsewhere”.
Voicing his support, Cllr Joe Garrihy (FG) commented, “We have a gym in Lahinch that is internationally and nationally known, when we have success it is going back to earlier motions about minding it and being careful of it. Manage success as much as your journey to get there. Investing in where is successful and making sure places are clean, working in those long intensity weekends is not easy, they are the frontline of the Council and they deserve to be recognised”.
Director of Service for Transportation, Climate Action, Environmental and Emergency Services, Carmel Kirby admitted, “it wasn’t nice to see the litter over the Bank Holiday weekend. My own son was there that weekend, I asked him about the rubbish, he said the bins were full and that he had to carry his own takeaway box hope”. Officials promised that the “place will be spick and span” going forward.
“Don’t shoot the messenger because I should be dead long ago with all the bad news I’ve to bring but I don’t want it to happen again,” Cllr Slattery replied.
