KEVIN STREET gardaí were yesterday investigating an incident outside the Dublin Mosque on the South Circular Road which resulted in a clamper being hospitalised.
A spokesman for Dublin Street Parking Services confirmed that an incident, involving a clamper, had occurred outside the mosque at about 2pm yesterday.
“Traffic control were putting on a clamp on a van that was double-parked and blocking traffic when a third party in another vehicle careered into the vehicle which he was clamping,” the spokesman said.
The spokesman could not confirm whether the clamper had been struck by the vehicle but said he had been hospitalised following the incident, although his condition is not thought to be serious.
A Garda spokesman said the incident had been reported to Kevin Street gardaí who are investigating. No arrests were made at the scene.
About four vehicles were earlier clamped outside the mosque during Friday prayer, the most important time of the Muslim week. There is an ongoing problem with parking in the area,during the Jumaa Prayer which starts at 1.10pm each week, when large numbers of people attend the mosque.
One mosque goer said that there should be exemptions made at this time.
“If someone is clamped that’s the law and there is no complaining about that, but we are just talking about Friday prayer which happens once a week. People should be allowed to pray freely,” said Radouane Elmahdi.
Other mosque-goers and residents said that double standards were being applied, claiming that those who attended bingo, which took place at the nearby National Stadium three times a week, were not clamped as frequently as those attending the mosque.
Imam Yahya al-Hussein said that the matter of parking had been raised with Dublin City Council, regarding exemptions for Friday prayer. However, while special exemptions have been made for Eid, the Muslim holiday marking the end of Ramadan, no such exemptions applied for Friday prayer services.
“We are sad that it is not possible to exempt our people from the normal parking restrictions,” he said, but added that people should observe parking laws where they applied.