Residents living around the Brandywell and Celtic Park stadiums in Derry have launched a new bid to get traffic issues sorted.
They say traffic situation is a ‘nightmare’ when there are big games at the grounds..
The issue was brought into focus again on Sunday last when thousands of GAA attendUlster Championship clash between Derry and Tyrone at Celtic Park.
Traffic restrictions were put in place around the stadium which meant local residents had difficulty going to and from their homes.
Following the game, a number of residents met with officials from Derry City and Strabane District Council to discuss the problem.
The Brandywell stadium, where Derry City play their home games, is owned by the Council, while Celtic Park is owned by the GAA.
A Council spokesperson said Derry City had responded to concerns from the local authority and local residents on match nights with regards to traffic congestion.
“As part of the process to address these concerns the club has initiated the implementation of a traffic management plan on match nights to reduce the amount of illegal parking around the ground,” the council spokesperson said.
Residents on the Lone Moor Road (pictured), which runs alongside both the Brandywell and Celtic Park, said they were “fed up” with the problem.
Catherine Doherty has lived on the Lone Moor Road for many years and said parking had always been an issue when Derry’s football or Gaelic teams played..
She said: “Years ago there were a couple of children knocked down on the road so it is dangerous.
“I don’t mind if the cars park down one side of the street, but they shouldn’t really be parking on the side with the houses because the people that live here use those spaces.
“If they made more room down in the Lecky Road area cars could park down there and it wouldn’t be as packed outside the stadium.”
Mrs Doherty’s daughter, Marian, said it was unacceptable that she was unable to get parked outside her mother’s house on match days.
“It’s definitely an issue, I live on Westland Street and when I came to visit my mother on Sunday I couldn’t get parked anywhere.
“Not coming to see my mother isn’t an option so I think something has to be done to sort it out.
“There has also been problems with fans coming from Dublin who have smashed windows in the past.”
Another resident, who did not wish to be named, said last Sunday was ‘worst’ she had ever seen.
She said: “The Gaelic fans were there from cock crow. It was a nightmare, when I tried to get down the road to my house they had the barrier up and wouldn’t let me past.”
Another resident said it has got to the point where neighbours put cones or chairs out in front of their houses to stop people from parking there.
She explained how she has had many run-ins with people who come for the GAA matches and those stewarding outside the Celtic Park, ‘who try to walk all over the residents’.
When the Gaelic and football teams are playing on the same day she said it’s a ‘nightmare’.
Aside from parking and congestion issues, the woman also said she has had to chase people who were urinating in front of her house.
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