DESPITE the difference in size between the two towns, Enniskillen drivers are still being given roughly the same number of parking tickets as their fellow motorists in Omagh.
So far this year, from January to June 2017, a total of 2,213 parking penalty charges were issued in Enniskillen, while 2,328 were issued in Omagh. While Omagh had more tickets issued for off-street parking, such as car-parks, at 1,304 compared to Enniskillen’s 1,084, when it came to on-street parking Enniskillen had the most issued, with 1,129 compared to Omagh’s 1,024.
Despite the narrow margin between the two towns in this year’s figures, which does not reflect the significant population difference between them, so far 2017 appears to be an improvement on previous years, when significantly more fines were issued in Enniskillen than Omagh.
Whether our traffic wardens are more dedicated than their colleagues in Omagh, or there are more parking spaces in Omagh, or it’s simply that Fermanagh drivers are worse at following traffic rules than their Tyrone neighbours, no explanation could be provided by either Fermanagh and Omagh District Council (FODC), who are responsible for off-street parking, or the Department of Infrastructure, who are responsible for on-street.
No reply to our query was received from the department, but a spokesman for FODC said there were 625 pay-and-display spaces in Enniskillen, and 684 in Omagh.
With regard to any further explanation, they said: “We cannot comment further as to reasons for this as we do not hold this information.”
Meanwhile, despite the then-Infrastructure Minister Chris Hazzard announcing in January towns with an average of less than ten tickets issued a month would be having their parking patrols withdrawn, which would’ve included both Irvinestown and Lisnaskea, both towns have had tickets issued in the past six months.
Irvinestown has had a grand total of 31 penalty notices issued so far this year. One of these was issued in January, there were 11 issued in April, three in May, and 16 in June.
In Lisnaskea, where a total of 26 have been issued this year, there were none issued in the first quarter of this year, while there were eight issued in April, 10 in May, and another eight in June.
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