Council to try add EV charging points to facilities undergoing development

CLARE’S tourism facilities that are undergoing development are to be equipped with electric vehicle charging points, writes Páraic McMahon.

Director of the Tourism Directorate of Clare County Council, Leonard Cleary confirmed that where a visitor attraction in the county is to be developed “funding measures will be sourced in order to install an appropriate amount of charging points”. This is already underway at the the Vandeleur Walled Garden and Visitor Centre in Kilrush.

Work is ongoing on the development of a countywide strategy for the construction of EV charging points in Clare which is led by the roads department of Clare

County Council.

Director of the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience, Geraldine Enright confirmed that a project is in progress at the Cliffs to install two charging points at its car park “subject to all technical obstacles being overcome”.

Cllr Pat McMahon (FF) proposed before a sitting of the County Council that the local authority “provide charging points for electric cars at each of the tourism facilities operated by the Council at which a suitable location for charging points be designated in each town and village to be in conjunction with electricity suppliers”.

This comes after the Council has taken over the ownership of the Shannon Heritage sites in the county. “We need to try get visitor attractions on song and to a certain standard, in conjunction and in parallel it is very important to have those charging points, they have to have the right things in the right places, they are not cheap and will cost €50,000,” Cllr McMahon claimed. “This is a great opportunity if we can produce and market it into the future, this is the future whether we like it or not,” he added.

Chargers are becoming “more difficult to find,” Cllr Tom O’Callaghan (FF) stated while supporting the motion.

Kilrush presently has two EV charging points, both of which are located in Tesco’s car park, Cllr Ian Lynch (IND) said. “The cost of chargers is one thing, the cost of doing infrastructure works nearly l UPGRADE: Electric vehicle charging station outweighed the benefit coming in,” he felt.

Prior to attending the meeting, Cllr PJ Ryan (IND) came across five French cars in Bunratty, all of which were electric, “the word fast needs to be put in, fast charging points are needed,” he stated.

“It needs to be in such a way that people can avail of grant funding straight away,” Cllr Joe Garrihy (FG) commented. Support was also voiced by Cllr PJ Kelly (FF).

Management protocols are needed to stop abuse of charging points, Cllr Cillian Murphy (FF) flagged.

“Slow chargers are just too hard to work. There needs to be some sort of management for people taking up a spot all day with slow charging spot, we’ve two in Kilkee and you could have two parked there for 24 hours all day parking, we need some sort of management protocol from our side”.