Part of our reason for visiting NI, was to participate in the Game of Thrones "Journey of Doors". Ten pubs in NI have wooden doors carved from trees that were blown down from The Dark Hedges. Anyway, we were very excited to have arrived in Limivady, where we were going to visit the first pub. As we entered town, we noticed the blue "P" for parking and followed it to a nice lot. None of the three of us noticed a Pay and Display box on the lot and in fact, we discussed that it was a really nice gesture to offer free parking. Not so nice.... We visited the visitor's center, saw the pub door, ate lunch in town, watched some Irish dancers for a few minutes. All of this took us around 1 hour and 15 minutes. When we got back to the lot, my husband then noticed the "Pay and Display" sign and box. Sure enough, there was a large notice taped on our car. We still weren't worried because we had no problem paying for parking -we had paid at all the other lots in Republic of Ireland. So we were quite shocked when the parking fine was 90 pounds!! There was a grace period of two weeks in which you would only have to pay 45 pounds. We went back to the visitor's center to see if they had any advice and they suggested finding the parking attendant. We did that and he was apologetic, and thought if we contested it, it would be forgiven. We did that. Today we got the official "denial of appeal". So.....$60.49 later we are no longer criminals in the eyes of N.I. So if you visit N.I., be sure to watch for the Pay and Display boxes!
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA ☔️
6788 posts
An expensive lesson, but hopefully one that you (or anyone reading this) won't repeat. I'll be keeping this in mind the next time I park in a strange land.
Posted by
Vermont USA
359 posts
Yes - also read lot times in NI. Small sign noted lot time till 5pm. No other warnings. My relative came back at 5:20 and barriers had been placed with no one around. No way to get the car out till the next day. Not a fun experience for them at all.
Posted by
Bern, Switzerland
977 posts
So.....$60.49 later we are no longer criminals in the eyes of N.I.
Now your a convicted criminal and on their system. And through the 'Dublin Schengen Agreement', most likely your record is accessible to all immigration officers across the Schengen Area. And of course Europol. ;-)
Posted by
Mid-Atlantic area
6543 posts
Whenever I see that P sign, I assume it’s pay and start looking for a box the get a ticket. Seldom is parking free in Europe unless it’s a small town not overrun with tourists.