A BUSINESS owner has called for investment in Belcoo to help alleviate ongoing issues around parking and speeding in the village.

Issues around speeding have been common for the village – a main route to Sligo with large volumes of traffic passing through.

However, with limited parking available on the Main Street and Railway Road heading towards Garrison, Eugene McCann – who owns the Spar shop in the village – believes if money was pumped into the village to tackle such issues, it would make the place a lot safer.

While there have been no accidents, Eugene has seen some close shaves outside his shop on Main Street.

He said: “Basically, the speed going through the village and parking would be an issue.There would be cases where the lorries, not all lorries, would be going through fairly sharpish.

“We have brought this up about speed, but they [authorities] don’t seem to want to do anything about it.”

Eugene said they have had meetings with the relevant authorities but they were told measures such as speed bumps and ‘sleeping policemen’ could not be used. “There are different things they wouldn’t do. They said they would have put up more signage, but I don’t think they have done that.

“Of course, it is up to people to drive with manners, but it’s just not really happening.”

In terms of parking, Eugene also feels that if something was done around this issue, it would make the area a lot safer.

“People are indicating to come into the shops, and cars are overtaking them. You would see close shaves often.

“When you have more traffic and people parking, it can slow traffic down, but then you get the one who just flies through the village, and somebody will pull out, or some child will walk out, and you don’t want to see that.”

He says the solution is simple – investment. “As far as we can see, there is very little being invested in the village. A bit of investment [as all some solutions would need].

“You see all these other towns getting money pumped in.”

Residents have come together to get the ball rolling in recent weeks on bringing the issues to the forefront again, while Sinn Féin Councillor, Anthony Feely, told The Impartial Reporter he has raised this issue several times with the Department of Infrastructure.

“I will continue to lobby on the issue before someone is killed, because it will be too late then,” he said.

The police have said they are aware of concerns raised with them in relation to speeding in the Belcoo village area.

Inspector Scott Fallis said: “We appreciate the information shared with us by members of the public and local councillors about their road safety concerns.

“We will continue to work together with them and other agencies, including the Road Safety Partnership and DfI Roads, to help make our roads safer.

“Speed restrictions are not there to inconvenience motorists – they are in place to make our roads safer. All motorists should drive in a responsible way, but if they don’t, then we have a duty to detect and deal with any offences.

“Road safety is a key priority for police – as it should be for each and every person using the roads – whether as a driver, motorcyclist, pedestrian or cyclist.

“Local officers will be conducting road safety operations in the Belcoo area over the coming weeks. If everyone follows our advice, then together we can help keep people safe and prevent injuries on our roads,” he added.

A DfI spokesperson said that they have been recently been made aware of speeding and parking issues in the village, and these are being investigated.