Motorists causing 'chaos' at Blue Flag beach, says councillor

A councillor has described the scenes at a County Donegal beauty spot where cars have been seized during a crackdown on illegal parking as "chaos and pandemonium".

Gardaí (Irish police) seized two cars at Shroove, (which is also known as Stroove or Shrove), a Blue Flag beach which is popular with tourists from Northern Ireland.

It is on the Wild Atlantic Way, near the fishing village of Greencastle on the eastern coast of the Inishowen Peninsula.

Sinn Féin councillor Terry Crossan said visitors were always welcome but they must park legally and responsibly.

At the moment, he said, motorists who are not doing that are causing chaos.

"The road in and out of Shroove is very narrow and can become very congested, especially in the warm weather and we get a lot of people travelling from north of the border, including Derry and the environs," he said.

"Double yellows lines were introduced to ease the parking problems but people have just ignored these and are parking willy-nilly.

"The guards have to enforce the Road Traffic Act - up to this, they haven't been doing it and it's caused absolute chaos, pandemonium, but now I've been told in recent days, they've been more proactive."

Gardaí have warned that emergency services would not be able to access the area, if they were needed, and this could put lives at risk.

Some local bus services have been suspended this week due to the volume of traffic in Shroove, which is overlooked by the historic lighthouse.

Donegal County Council also closed Downings Beach 61.5m (99km) away on Sunday due to the large volume of cars in that area.

That was on the advice of the gardaí.

Shroove Beach is overlooked by the historic Shroove Lighthouse and near the mouth of Lough Foyle.

Lough Foyle is located between the Inishowen Peninsula in County Donegal und County Londonderry in Northern Ireland.

Shroove's sandy shore and scenic surroundings make it a popular spot for swimming, short walks and enjoying the natural beauty of Inishowen.

Katherine Moloney is a tourist visiting County Donegal from Massachusetts in the United States.

"It's actually my first time here in Ireland," she said.

"I thought, because of how great the weather is, I would head up north and check out Donegal, which I love.

"I did hear about the issues around parking here and people parking on double-yellow lines and potentially blocking roads for the emergency services.

"I do think there is not a lot of signage, so especially for tourists, they may not know where to park, whereas locals who know the area would be better able to park correctly."

Sophia Hegarty arrived at the beach early with her grandchildren rather than coming later in the afternoon because of concerns about parking.

"I think what we need to see is more parking spaces being made available if they want to stop people from parking on the main road.

"I think it is a bit overcrowded now when it comes to parking, and there could certainly be issues with emergency vehicles gaining access, which is a worry."

Nicole O'Neill is from Londonderry in Northern Ireland and made the short trip across the border for a beach trip with her family, including her three-year-old daughter, Holly.

O'Neill said the parking has been a "nightmare" and said people need to be more considerate about where they park.

"It's hard to get parked here," O'Neill explained.

"People are parked on double-yellow lines and are even parking behind you or in front of your car, which makes it harder to get out, so it's annoying and stressful, especially when you have children in the car.

"I think we definitely need a bigger car park here, or else we should encourage more people to walk if they are able to travel that way."