Campervans in Marina area?

What have people got against others overnighting in caravans In car parks?

So what?

To be able to stay somewhere overnight is why they bought camper vans.

I live in Dublin close to a carpark where a lot of campers will overnight in before heading off on the Ferry. A lot will drive from Cork, Kerry, Donegal etc... so there's no stress getting up in the morning and driving miles, could be a similar situation you're seeing. There's no problem with them. I also have a camper and as a community they're pretty responsible, self regulated and when they're not in a designated campsite they keep a very low profile, no BBQ's or tables out, no noise and they tend to never pollute or flytip.

Do you live close to where they're parking up?

So they must be locals then. It's not something to worry about to be honest, you can't pinpoint a problem except "seeing problems in the future" which is a bit ambiguous. On the other hand, as a responsible campervan owner it's great to hear about another place to stay in a city.

Spanish, German, Swiss, UK and plenty of Irish ones, lots from Cork! Never a problem... they often leave the camper & get the bus in to town for the day.

Places like Kenmare, Tramore and Salthill have issues where campervans are parked along the waterfront and block access or views.

I mean, you spend half a mil for a house overlooking the sea in Salthill, and there's constantly a row of tall campers blocking your view throughout the summer.

I have a camper and try to park respectfully, but Ireland is poorly set up for it.

The vans usually stay up towards the far end and the numbers are low. I haven't seen any increase in litter - more likely to get the takeaway wrappers dumped from a car whose owner has stopped up for whatever.

The only time the carpark is full is when there's an event on so they're hardly taking space from "locals". (Who if they're local don't really need to drive..).

It's a nice spot to stop especially if on the way to the ferry - quick access into town, local places to get refreshments, away from the noise.

I've heard the accusations of emptying toilet cassettes into the sea before but first of all, you'd need to be an absolute cu*t to do something like that and second of all, I've never heard of any convictions for doing it which is strange given that all it should take is the reg plate of the camper to identify the perpetrators.

I'm not saying it never happens, there most certainly are some absolute cu*ts out there, but the frequency at which it's claimed to happen, you'd think even one of the people witnessing it might manage to get a reg plate.

I'm a bit lost here. Firstly there was a match on which drew in people from all across Cork and Kilkenny.

Secondly - are we saying that 12 camper vans were taking up an entire car park ? There are a lot of spaces there. The spaces are for those who require parking in the area. If their vehicle is a camper van or a builder's transit or a beefy SUV or a wee Smart then it makes no difference as long as they're within the white lines, not parking on the grass by the trees and not littering the area.

The Coal Harbour ban was nothing to do with rubbish or emptying cassettes, someone just made that up, it's scuttlebutt. The official statement:

"Officials at Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown local authority, while sympathetic to the demand for, and popularity of motorhome tourism, insist they have no option but to introduce the impediment to motorhome parking to protect the car park for its primary purpose and ensure safe access to an important slipway utilised by numerous boating and water sports groups".

I sail in Howth & know the harbourmaster, there was no rubbish or effluent issue in Howth either, they were maliciously spread rumours. The ban was a result of local busybodies complaining, they simply didn't like the look of the campers and had them banned.

Both were popular stops with the Campervan community with all the restaurants and pubs but alas no more, it was brilliant for regattas because only half the crew could fit in the boat, the rest could stay in the camper.

The hand-wringing is a bit much.

Yes, there are a couple of campers there which have been there kinda semi-permanently. The vast majority are tourists parking for a night or else people coming down to have a cup of tea in the camper, go for a walk, maybe get a coffee from the van nearby, or else stroll up to Marina Market or into town.

Anytime I have been it's clean, there's no rubbish from campers around, and they only take up one parking spot (i.e. they don't park sideways).

This kind of hand-wringing is a bit much Sporina - you've said yourself there are no issues, to be fair. What's next, remove any benches along the Marina in case people sit on them?

There are regularly 10 / 12 campervans parked in the Marina carpark, they tend to stay there for a while rather than just an overnight. Some have on occasion parked across more than one parking space, and there are a few that are longer than a parking space so they stick out into the roadway. There are also a couple of caravans. There's a Facebook page to guide the campervans to the spot.

However, its not a campervan park, there are no facilities of any kind, its unclear how they are disposing of any waste.

Typical council policy. Some bad eggs so everyone loses out and they might have an alternative in the future. Rubbish.

First and foremost, you have no right to accuse anyone of being a coward, thats a personal attack and has no place on here.

Secondly if you think Sporina has single handedly achieved this then you are very wrong. I was chatting to my local councillor only last night. They have received nearly 100 complaints recently about the permanent status of some of the vans.

Only the other day, Corkbeo carried a story about a business owner living there for the past 12 months.

The park was only ever designed for short term, there are two or three parks for €10 a night available on the edge of Cork with full facilities.

Whilst I feel for those genuinely struggling; its a public amenity which was filled by vans. Unfortunately not all of the owners were fully responsible and according to my conversation last night, there has been photographic evidence of onboard toilet casettes being emptied into the Lee.

The council never objected to short term, but 12 months is residential.

Rules apply to everyone

I don't think a few have ruined it, it's over zealous enforcement meaning everyone gets affected instead of the few.

I used go wild camping in kerry years ago. Occasionally the council would show up and were sound about it. If you were messy, noisy or being difficult you were asked to move on. If you were being clean and kept to yourself then no issues.

I was down the same place last weekend and saw signs everywhere that bans all wild camping now, which is a shame.

I understand that. But instead of enforcing the rules on people who are staying there for 12 months, they enforce a new rule on everyone instead. So everyone loses out.