Tullamore steps into 21st century as 'Pay By App' parking launched

By Rebekah O'Reilly

A new way to pay for parking has been introduced in Tullamore on Friday September 27, as 'Pay By App' is being rolled out across the town.

The alternative payment option will be available in every public car park across the town, and is hoped to 'bring life back' into the area.

Speaking to the Offaly Independent, Cllr Aoife Masterson said: “It was important to move forward with this as soon as possible. We needed to bring Tullamore into the 21st century.

“Other towns of equal size like Mullingar and Athlone all have alternative payment options for their parking. In Tullamore, we were still fumbling for change, or a lot of people were simply not paying for parking.”

The Sinn Fein councillor said she hopes the new option will encourage people to come back into Tullamore town.

“I think it's going to bring life back into the town,” she said. “The hope is that it will increase compliance with the parking fees, and secondly that it will bring life back to the town and it's businesses.”

Now that electronic parking payments have reached Tullamore, Masterson hopes to extend the initiative to the rest of Offaly.

Cllr Masterson said: “It's actually been in the works for quite a while. It's something I pushed for in the local elections, and now going forward in the general election, I'll be pushing to bring it to the rest of Offaly.

“Offaly is being left behind. There's so much work that needs to be done.”