Boy racers 'making life impossible' for Ballina residents

A North Mayo B&B business has been forced to cut back on its bookings because guests are being disturbed by boy racers. 

The matter was raised at the recent meeting of Ballina Municipal District by Cllr Joe Faughnan who asked that Mayo County Council write to Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) to consider the installation of plastic bollards at the Drumrevagh junction on the N26 Ballina to Foxford Road. He said the junction has "become a popular location for unsociable behaviour late at night" with young drivers congregating and performing 'doughnuts' and other noisy maneouvres. 

"It has made life impossible for local residents. I have been on about this for two years. It is happening on a wide part of the road and disturbed a funeral there some months ago and is also very hard on [residents] close by. There are probably 35 houses in close proximity so it affects a lot of people. 

"We already met with [council] management on this twelve months ago and are trying to figure out since then the best way to tackle the problem. I don’t know whether bollards will stop the spinning, but the situation has to be addressed. A B&B on the side of the road has had to cut back on bookings because of people being woken up at night by loud noises.” 

Cllr John O’Hara supported the proposal, saying: “It is very unsightly coming into town at Mount Falcon to see all the road black with rubber. They seem to keep at it for hours and can be heard for miles. To put something like bollards in would deter these drivers here and at other junctions.” 

Cllr Marie Therese Duffy said it was an issue countywide, adding that she had suggested before that a designated place be identified in Mayo for car enthusiasts to gather so people would not be disturbed.

Cllr Michael Loftus said “there is such an amount of black rubber" on the N59 for about five miles outside Crossmolina.

"It is astonishing what these young people are doing or even how they are affording to do it, as we would all be very conscious of the price of buying tyres". 

He had been in touch with the Road Safety Office to get cameras installed in the area and suggested that signage also be put in to say there are cameras in place.

"Unfortunately, these people seem to move from area to area. It should also be noted these vehicles are not road roadworthy so why the Gardaí are not confiscating them is another question that has to be asked. Having motor tax does not say a car is roadworthy and I would be putting pressure on An Garda Síochána to be more proactive in monitoring this and maybe a letter could be sent to the new superintendent who is coming to Ballina to highlight this issue.” 

Cathaoirleach Cllr Jarlath Munnelly agreed that a letter would be sent to the superintendent while Cllr Annie May Reape suggested he be invited to attend a future meeting to speak on the matter.

• Published as part of the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.