Parking fees of €1.20 per hour are to be introduced on Wednesday at Stillorgan Village Shopping Centre in South Dublin, just in time for the busy Christmas shopping period.
On Tuesday, signs appeared in the centre’s main and overflow car parks, informing customers that pay and display machines will be in operation from Wednesday, November 19th.
The hourly charge is set at €1.20 per hour and will be in operation from Monday to Saturday between 9am and 6pm, and on Sundays and Bank Holidays between 12pm and 6pm.
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The car parks, which are owned along with the shopping centre by US investment giant Kennedy Wilson, are operated by private parking company Euro Car Parks Ireland.
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The UK-owned company, which has operated the Stillorgan car parks for more than two decades, also runs the multistorey underground car park at the Mater hospital in Dublin 7, as well as a car park at the National Convention Centre in Dublin 1.
Kennedy Wilson declined to comment.
Clamping and vehicle removal will also be in operation at Stillorgan Village, according to the signage, with offenders set to face release fees of €120 and relocation charges of €150.
Locals and customers have taken to social media to vent their frustration over the fees.
“One of the big attractions of going to Stillorgan for some shopping was always the free parking,” one Facebook user posted under a photograph of the signage. “Too bad they’ve followed the crowd.”
The announcement comes days after residents protested plans to introduce car park barriers at Blanchardstown Shopping Centre in Dublin 15.
Locals were reacting to a planning application submitted to Fingal County Council in September by Blanche Retail, a subsidiary of global investment firm Strategic Value Partners, which acquired the shopping centre and car parks in February.
The application includes a proposal to introduce “car parking management controls” to the multistorey and surface car parks, “including associated barriers”.
In 2022, the Liffey Valley Shopping Centre in west Dublin introduced charges of €2.50 for the first three hours of parking, after which an hourly rate of €2.50 is in place.
At the time, the shopping centre’s manager, US property giant Hines, said the fees were being introduced to grow “new and more sustainable ways to access Liffey Valley”.
