Donegal County Council has been asked to pause a controversial enforcement order on a Ramelton takeaway van.
Johnny’s Ranch in Ramelton is on a deadline to close up shop due to an alleged breach of trading bye-laws.
The popular van has been declared an “unauthorised development” at its location at Gamble Square.
A well-attended protest and a petition with over 2,000 signatures have shown strong public support for owner Johnny Patterson.
Councillor Pauric McGarvey and Councillor Liam Blaney raised the matter with the Letterkenny Municipal District on Tuesday, calling for the local authority to refrain from escalating the enforcement order against Mr Patterson until new casual trading by-laws are agreed and in place.
The bye-laws are due to be reviewed and adopted by the first quarter of 2026.
“We all know the situation, the developer has been operating in Ramelton for a number of years. Johnny is a highly respected member of the community with an award-winning catering van,” Cllr Pauric McGarvey told the MD Meeting.
“I believe his business is being treated unfairly and is being dealt a heavy hand by Donegal County Council.”
Cllr McGarvey also pointed out that the food van has been targeted by vandals numerous times and the entire ordeal has taken its toll on Johnny and his family.
Johnny Patterson has been running Johnny’s Ranch in the market town for seven years, first at the Quay and in recent years, at Gamble Square.
Cllr McGarvey said that the council should be supporting small businesses, not trying to shut them down.
“Common sense must prevail here. The bitterness against the council is not something I take lightly as an elected member,” Cllr McGarvey said.
Seconding the motion, Cllr Liam Blaney said: “There are plenty of examples of catering vans and coffee vans staying in one place and nothing has been taken against them.
“We don’t know why this (Johnny’s ranch) has been singled out.
“I don’t think that we are out of order asking that we suspend escalating the enforcement order until the new bye-laws are in.”
A final draft of the new casual trading byelaws is currently being prepared for presentation to the Council by the end of 2025. Once approved, it will be open for public consultation before they are formally adopted at a Plenary Meeting of the Council.
Cllr Blaney pointed out that the review may take only six months.
“By the time we’ve taken this man to court and got a court date set, those six months will be up,” he said.
Cllr Pauric McGarvey’s motion was backed by all present councillors of the Letterkenny-Milford MD.
A spokesperson for the Donegal County Council Planning Department stated: “This matter is currently the subject of formal enforcement proceedings under the Planning & Development Act 2000 (as amended) and there is no scope to enable the continued unauthorised use of the premises where there is no valid planning permission of licence. It remains the responsibility of the developer to comply with the terms of the enforcement notice and prevent the escalation of the matter to a formal prosecution.”
Chips are down as popular Ramelton food van faces chop over development laws
Council urged to back down on takeaway van enforcement was last modified: September 10th, 2025 by Rachel McLaughlin
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