THE MAYOR of Clare has complained that gardaí have not removed more than 60 caravans and camper vans from Kilkee's main car park.
Up to 250 members of the Travelling community from Ireland and Britain converged on the town late on Friday night and took over the car park. This led to traffic disruption in the town over the busy bank holiday weekend.
Access to the slipway and local dive centre has been restricted and the number of parking spaces in the town has been reduced by up to 50 per cent.
Kilrush Fine Gael councillor and Mayor of Clare, Madeleine Taylor-Quinn, visited the car park several times over the weekend and said Clare County Council had done everything possible to remove the caravans.
"I received a personal commitment from senior gardaí that the matter would be dealt with promptly and I am very disappointed that this has not happened," she said.
A Garda spokesman said some of those who parked in Kilkee had moved on voluntarily.
"We cannot comment on whether others will be moved forcibly but we are monitoring the situation very closely. We have noted the registrations of the offending vehicles and as their presence there is illegal, we are pursuing the matter further and prosecutions may follow," he said.
Ms Taylor-Quinn said: "The car park can accommodate about 120 cars. However, not a single car could get in there and this had the knock-on effect of creating serious traffic and parking issues around the town."