Chronic parking problems are impacting Laytown commuters

Calls for a long-awaited park and ride facility at Laytown Train Station have been renewed, with councillors warning that chronic parking problems are impacting commuters, residents and local businesses.

Sinn Féin Cllr Maria White brought a motion before the October meeting of Laytown-Bettystown Municipal District calling on Meath County Council to write to the National Transport Authority (NTA) and Irish Rail requesting that they work with the council to facilitate a park and ride facility or identify sites for additional commuter parking at Laytown Station.

Cllr White said the parking issue had been raised repeatedly and stressed that councillors were not seeking to take away existing community amenities simply to provide parking.

She welcomed confirmation in the council's response that the NTA is now considering future parking provision at Laytown Station, but said action had come too late.

“This is retrospective. This is all happening too late,” she said, referring to the progress already made on the DART+ expansion.

Cllr White said that while the provision of a park and ride was not directly within Meath County Council's remit, local councillors needed the council to strongly advocate on behalf of the community to the bodies responsible.

“We need to see action. We need to see practical action,” she said.

“A letter, I think, is the very least we can do,” she added, calling for the impact of the parking shortage on the area to be strongly conveyed to the NTA.

Cllr White said the lack of parking was also hindering local businesses in an area with relatively few parking options.

In its response to the motion, Meath County Council acknowledged that the provision of a park and ride facility aligned with County Development Plan policy aimed at improving public transport accessibility without exacerbating road congestion.

The council noted that the NTA established its Park and Ride Development Office in 2020 to enable the delivery of park and ride sites in collaboration with operators including Iarnród Éireann.

Following the granting of planning permission for the DART+ Coastal North Scheme by An Coimisiún Pleanála in August 2025, the council said it understood that the NTA, through its Park and Ride Development Office, was now considering future parking provision at Laytown Station as part of a post-DART+ capacity assessment.

Crucially, the council said initial discussions between the NTA and Iarnród Éireann have commenced in relation to a park and ride facility at Laytown Station.

Fine Gael Cllr Sharon Tolan strongly supported the motion, saying she had raised similar motions on numerous occasions over the past 12 years.

She said councillors had again raised the lack of parking during a presentation on the Local Transport Plan, including with consultants and representatives of the NTA.

Cllr Tolan said the reality of people's daily lives had to be recognised when policies sought to encourage a move away from private cars.

“We can't keep bashing motorists over the head time and time again,” she said.

“There are just too many people who can't use the bus to get to the train station, who can't use a bike to get to the train station, who can't walk to the train station.”

She pointed to parents who may have children to drop at different schools or childcare before travelling to the station and said using a car was sometimes simply necessary.

“People have lives. They've got to keep going,” she said.

Cllr Tolan said an opportunity now existed through the next County Development Plan, but warned that she was not prepared to see another objective placed on a map without anything being delivered.

“We are not prepared to go another ten years in the next County Development Plan with a specific objective on a map and not a single parking space delivered,” she said.

“We've got to create and support the initiative to deliver those parking spaces.”

Independent Cllr Paddy Meade also supported the motion and highlighted the wider effect of the parking shortage on Laytown, saying difficulty finding a space was discouraging people from visiting local businesses.

The council's response also noted that the NTA previously funded Meath County Council to provide a new site for recycling facilities adjacent to Laytown Station.

Councillors backed Cllr White's motion calling for the council to press the NTA and Irish Rail for progress on additional parking provision.

- Funded by the Local

Democracy Reporting Scheme