A significant number of drivers from Northern Ireland are refusing to pay parking and speeding fines after they leave the jurisdiction, according to gardai and local authority officials in the north-east.
A survey by Dundalk Urban District Council found that 40 per cent of parking tickets were unpaid and that 94 per cent of these were issued to motorists with addresses outside the State, the majority in Northern Ireland.
As a result, the council said, it would introduce wheel-clamping in an effort to reduce illegal parking, particularly by motorists from the North.
"We have two traffic wardens and they see that there is a problem with perennial offenders and with those from outside the jurisdiction. We are happy and satisfied with Southern drivers who pay up 95 per cent of the time," said Mr Joe McGuinness, senior staff officer with the council.
The proximity of the town to the Border results in large numbers of both shoppers and workers travelling there on a daily basis. But many of them fail to pay parking fines and continue to park illegally.
Gardai working in the Louth-Meath division told The Irish Times that a similar problem had been experienced with speeding fines. A senior garda said many of those caught for speeding could not be traced subsequently.
Difficulties with jurisdictional power have also arisen, according to gardai.
"The reality is I can issue a speeding ticket and if he pays it, fine. But if he doesn't I have no jurisdictional power," said Insp Gerry O'Brien of Drogheda Garda station.
"If I arrest a man from the North I cannot deal with him any differently.
"If someone is arrested for drunk driving the common practice is that we will charge him and release him on bail. If he turns up in court, that is fine. If he doesn't, a bench warrant for his arrest is issued."
Insp O'Brien is in charge of the traffic corps in the Louth-Meath division. He estimates that about 40 per cent of the £50 on-the-spot fines issued by gardai last year were to Northern motorists. Of that figure, only half paid the fine.
Gardai find that those who do pay are frequent travellers in the Republic.
Next month fixed cameras which will record the speed of a car as well as filming the vehicle and driver will be turned on. But gardai will not be able to use them to prosecute drivers from outside the jurisdiction.
In relation to parking, the worst two offenders have 28 and 22 tickets respectively.
"We have another motorist with 12 tickets," said Mr McGuinness. "They must be in the town nearly every day, and it is a problem.
"We also find that motorists from outside the State park in the disabled parking bays, which have been put in prime positions such as outside the GPO."
The council has decided to follow the example of Dublin and introduce clamping of all offending vehicles. There is a mandatory charge of £65 to have the clamp removed.
Alternatively, cars still clamped at 4.30 p.m. will be impounded overnight, for charges totalling £130.
There is also a £30-a-day storage charge.
"Local people have said to us that they pay their tickets and that people outside the State are dictating how we run our town, but I say we are dictating how we treat them," Mr McGuinness added.
As if further evidence was needed, by 11.10 a.m. yesterday the first car had been clamped. It was a Northern Ireland-registered BMW, which had previously been issued with a parking ticket.