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06 Sept 2025
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06 Sept 2025
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Donegal Town Christmas lights. PHOTO: Siobhán McNamara
A councillor in the Municipal District (MD) of Donegal said he was disappointed that his proposal to scrap parking fees in the area in the run-up to Christmas could not be accommodated.
Speaking at the December meeting of Donegal MD, Cllr Micheál Naughton (FF) said: “Something I want to propose is that for those two weeks coming up to Christmas, that we would do free parking in towns to get people to shop locally and get people in our town centres.
“It would be a little token to say to our business people, ‘We care about you and we hope you have a good Christmas.’
“It is only a small gesture but it would mean a lot.”
Area Roads Officer Mark Sweeney and Director Designate of Donegal MD Garry Martin both replied that unfortunately, they didn’t feel this could be done under council rules.
Mr Sweeney said he would look into it but he didn’t feel it could be decided at MD level.
Mr Martin said that he appreciated the sentiment behind the proposal, but unfortunately in regard to budget decisions taken at plenary level, it wasn’t procedural.
Cllr Naughton said: “I thank you for the reply but I am disappointed that we would not be allowed to decide that in our own MD.”
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