Dr. Cecil Beamish:

I do not know the exact years in which it was done but the car park was redeveloped at the same time. It was invested in so that there would be a safe and modern access and egress to and from the Aran Islands for the 170,000 passengers. The parking arrangement that was in place prior to the terminal being built was a roughly-surfaced, pot-holed area of ground. Parking was free and 170,000 people used it. In the context of the construction of a safe ferry terminal for those 170,000 customers, the decision was taken to also build a safe, modern car park. The decision was taken to redevelop and resurface the car park in conjunction with the ferry terminal as part of the overall modernisation of that service and to impose a charge on people who wished to park their cars. Two things happened thereafter. The first of these was that we were moving away from a free facility and whenever one moves from that to one where charges apply, issues arise. The first issue which arose was that the islanders took the view that they had previously had free car parking and through their public representatives they made a very strong case to the effect that they wanted to retain this. Ultimately, a free parking facility was provided for the islanders.

The second issue was that once the State moved to improve its parking facilities and charge for them, the major ferry operating company opened an alternative car park much closer to where the traffic enters the harbour. It also employed people outside the boundaries of the harbour - which is not something the State can do or say or do anything about - to direct ferry passengers to park in the new facility, where its ticket office is also located. So two elements took away what was the original usage of the harbour.