COMMERCIAL and social activity in Dublin city centre would be "strangled by traffic congestion if the problems were not tackled this Christmas, the Minister for the Environment, Mr Howlin, said yesterday.
More than 100 gardai, some on motorcycles, had been drafted in to rigorously enforce the laws against illegal parking in the city centre, he said.
During a lively press conference at the Westbury Hotel yesterday, Mr Howlin dismissed suggestions that the benefits of Operation Freeflow would wear off after the Christmas rush had ended.
The measures were aimed not at the majority of law abiding drivers, but at the "small minority of selfish or uncaring motorists" who believed they could park where they liked. Abandoned cars, vans, lorries or buses in clearways and other crucial locations would bear the brunt of the pre Christmas assault on traffic congestion, he said.
Standing in front of a Garda tow truck suspending a car in South King Street, Mr Howlin said traffic in Dublin had now reached the volume envisaged for 2001, and he promised that 1997 would see the continuation of the measures introduced yesterday. In future, drivers would also be encouraged to park on the periphery of the city and to travel the rest of their journey on public transport.
"Today's package does not involve a `blanket ban' on city centre parking, as some recent comments have suggested. But improving traffic flow on the key routes does involve taking parking meters out of commission at some crucial locations," he said.
"In conjunction with this Dublin Corporation is introducing a new tiered parking charge system in their off street car parks to deter all day parking in favour of short term, quick turnaround parking suitable for shoppers."
Fianna Fail's spokesman on the environment, Mr Noel Dempsey, announced yesterday that his party would table a Dail motion for a debate on traffic chaos in the run up to Christmas. The private members motion would outline 10 steps to be implemented immediately.