There was a heated exchange among Clonmel councillors over a proposal around free Christmas parking.
Cllr. Michael Murphy asked the Head of Finance to consider free parking for 3 to 4 hours every day for the month of December, stating that Nenagh had free parking every Saturday all year.
However, fellow Councillor Siobhán Ambrose felt he was ‘playing politics’ raising this in a public meeting rather than flagging it beforehand.
Cllr. Murphy rejected this accusation stating that anything he does is for the benefit of the town and he should be free to raise any matter in the chamber.
He told Tipp FM that he feels this proposal is crucial for the traders in Clonmel.
“Well let’s look at it maybe rather than all day Saturday the peak hours on Saturday and re distribute some of those hours through Monday to Friday.
We need to do things differently, as I said I come back to my key core point , this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for businesses in Clonmel the Christmas trading period and from speaking to traders in Clonmel unless they have a successful an buoyant Christmas trade they are going to struggle to survive in the New Year.”
He went on to address the heated exchange with Councillor Ambrose.
“My track record is very, very clear when I talk in the chamber of the Clonmel borough district or indeed the chamber of Tipperary County Council I do so with a sense of passion and pride but always with the best interest of the Clonmel district that I represent , it’s a political chamber like where else can we make proposals?… I make no apologies for making proposals in what is a political chamber.”
