{"id":619069,"date":"2026-09-09T07:34:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T07:34:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/619069\/"},"modified":"2026-09-09T07:34:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T07:34:11","slug":"clamping-vans-to-exit-dublin-city-after-almost-30-years-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/619069\/","title":{"rendered":"Clamping vans to exit Dublin city after almost 30 years \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clamping vans will all but disappear from Dublin city centre, and reports from members of the public about illegal parkers will be prioritised, under a radical overhaul of the city\u2019s parking enforcement services<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the biggest change to parking controls since clamping was introduced almost 30 years ago, Dublin City Council is implementing a new enforcement model concentrating more on towing and fining illegal parkers <\/a>and less on applying clamps.<\/p>\n

The council has ended its association with Dublin Street Parking Services (DSPS), which has been clamping cars in the city since 2004, and has awarded a new five-year \u20ac51 million enforcement contract to rivals Apcoa Parking Ireland.<\/p>\n

\"Parking\"IRISH TIMES GRAPHICS <\/p>\n

Although clamping will remain part of the enforcement armoury<\/a>, controls and penalties will be more geographically defined, with the punishments for motorists dependent on the zone as well as the offence committed.<\/p>\n

The city will be split into six \u201cpatrol zones\u201d with a \u201cpermanent patrol presence\u201d in each zone during peak hours, the council said, providing a tailored response for the area.<\/p>\n

The first four zones encompass the primarily residential suburbs surrounding the city. In these areas, enforcement will concentrate on a rapid response to public complaints of illegal parking and obstructions. \u201cThe new contract will make public requests a priority,\u201d the council said.<\/p>\n

Closer to the city, in the area within the canals but excluding the central business district, the focus will be on \u201cthe movement of traffic and achieving vehicle removals and relocations\u201d by towing vehicles motorists have illegally parked, blocking bus lanes or other traffic.<\/p>\n

In the city centre, patrols using clamping vans <\/a>are no longer seen as effective, and a system akin to traditional traffic wardens issuing fines is expected to be implemented. \u201cFrom our research, we found that high traffic volumes restrict the mobility of vehicular crews. In this zone, parking enforcement operatives will patrol on foot,\u201d the council said.<\/p>\n

Green Party councillor and member of the council\u2019s mobility committee Feljin Jose welcomed the emphasis on keeping the city moving. <\/p>\n

\u201cI do want to see greater levels of towing and relocating. If a car\u2019s parked in a bus lane, clamping it in place isn\u2019t going to make things better. Removing it is what needs to be done. The priority should be on keeping bus lanes, cycle lanes and footpaths clear.\u201d <\/p>\n

With over 56,000 cars clamped in the capital last year we look at the top ten blackspots and breakdown the statistics. <\/p>\n

DSPS had been the city\u2019s parking enforcer since 2004 when it took over from Control Plus, which won the council\u2019s first clamping contract in 1998.<\/p>\n

Apcoa had been due to take over the contract last month, but a legal challenge was mounted by DSPS owner Q-Park. \u201cThe challenge has now been withdrawn,\u201d the council said, and Apcoa\u2019s contract will start on November 1st. DSPS will continue clamping until then.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Clamping vans will all but disappear from Dublin city centre, and reports from members of the public about…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":619070,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[13288,42,43,40,38,41,39,3011],"class_list":["post-619069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-dublin-city-council","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-traffic"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=619069"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619069\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/619070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=619069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=619069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=619069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}