Euro frustration at £1-only car parks

January 2002

The Euro changeover is increasingly becoming frustrating for motorist at hospital and church car parks in Wexford, where the pay machines won’t accept the new coins.

And with the old £1 and 50p coins becoming less and less common now that we are two weeks into the new currency, temporary new measures are having to be taken at Rowe Street Church, Bride Street Church, and Wexford Hospital.

At the hospital, a cash desk has been set up to convert euros back into £1 coins, as the exit barriers still have not been converted to accept euros themselves.

This is signposted at the entrance to the car park but because many people don’t notice the sign as they enter, they find themselves getting to the exit barrier before discovering the problem, and then having to reverse and park again before going back into the hospital to change their currency. This gives rise to even greater problems if a queue of cars has already developed behind the one that becomes stuck at the barrier.

At Rowe Street Church car park, there is a sign with a mobile phone number for people to ring if they need £1 coins to exit the car park. In Bride Street last week, there was no provision for the changeover at all, with many people having their vehicles there and return to nearby shops to seek change.

On Monday this week, following numerous complaints, an improvised exchange facility was set up in the CBS monastery across the road, where a retired Christian Brother was handing out pound coins.

A spokesman at the Presbytery said the changeover parts for the exit barriers had been ordered last Autumn, but did not arrive on time, and this was the reason for the current problems.

At the hospital, General Manager Teresa Hanrahan said the company that maintains the barriers ‘just got the parts yesterday, and are installing them even as we speak’.

When asked why they hadn’t simply left the barriers up until now, to avoid problems, she replied ‘ because the hospital can’t do without the income that parking brings in. That’s the stark reality of it.’