Taxi drivers in Navan say illegal parking on ranks is costing them work, burning fuel and putting them at risk of confrontation — and they have won a Garda promise of enforcement after raising it at the Meath Safety Partnership.
Operator Ciarán Phelan told the Meath Chronicle the problem has worsened since ranks were moved to Abbey Road, behind the shopping centre. On Sundays, with no traffic warden on duty, that rank is “treated like a public car park,” he said. The centre car park is available, yet private cars still take rank spaces.
Abuse when drivers ask cars to move
Phelan said polite requests to leave the rank are often met with verbal abuse, and sometimes aggressive behaviour — people getting out of cars and threatening drivers. His wife works days; he mostly covers evenings and nights, and has seen the same problem in daylight.
He said wardens do ticket vehicles, but motorists watch the patrol window and park once officers have gone. At Market Square, he said cars ignore signs on a loading bay that becomes a taxi rank at night, with some drivers shouting that it is not a rank.
When the rank is blocked, taxis have to circle and wait for the car to leave — extra miles and lost fares. “We just want to make a living, and get people off the streets at night and home safe,” Phelan said. He warned that without action, a driver could eventually be assaulted.
Gardaí pledge an operation
Drivers took the issue to a recent Meath Safety Partnership meeting. Reporting from that meeting said Community Garda McNulty heard about intimidation and illegal parking on Kennedy Road and Abbey Road ranks — especially Sundays and weekend nights near Market Square — and said Gardaí would look at the ranks, with extra weekend patrols in town expected to help (Meath Chronicle).
Cllr Eddie Fennessy, who attended the Safety Partnership meeting, said the problem has run for years. As Mayor of Navan he organised talks between council transport officials and two taxi groups. He argued the council’s hands are tied outside warden hours: once patrols end, some motorists “believe they can park wherever they want.” Kennedy Road and Abbey Road ranks are regularly blocked most evenings and on Sundays, he said — stopping drivers reaching their place of work, cutting earnings and forcing them to burn fuel circling the town.
Fennessy welcomed the Garda commitment to an enforcement operation and said ticket-based enforcement would, over time, end the culture of parking on ranks.
What the council says
A Meath County Council spokesperson said wardens monitor ranks during patrol hours and fine vehicles parked illegally there — and may also fine unattended taxis on ranks. Routes are rotated around the town. Misuse outside patrol hours, including evenings and Sundays, may be reported to An Garda Síochána. From mid-November through Christmas, the council said there will be increased warden patrols in town-centre shopping areas.
The Abbey Road move itself dates back to Navan’s streetscape and byelaw changes, when the Kennedy Road stand was replaced with a rank to the rear of the shopping centre (Meath Chronicle, 2021). Drivers say the new layout made it easier for private cars to slip onto empty rank spaces — and that after-hours enforcement has not kept up.