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An incredible 20,978 parking tickets (penalty charge notices) have been issued in Newry City since 28 April 2023 with 2448 issued already in the first four months of this year. That's an average of 21 tickets every day since the start of 2026. By contrast our neighbouring City Armagh had just 6,623 tickets issued in the same 3 year period.
The figures were revealed by Newry native and Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins in reply to a question from Newry and Armagh MLA Gareth Wilson. The MLA had asked the Minister "to detail the number of Penalty Charge Notices issued by her Department in Newry and Armagh, in each of the last five, years broken down by location."
Some areas of the city are penalty charge notice hotspots but very few streets have escaped. Eighty three streets or areas are mentioned with the traffic wardens visiting everywhere from Barrack Street (3 in 3 years) to Cleary Crescent (2) to Peter's Place (5), but the real hot spots were Hill Street (2421), The Mall (2313), Monaghan Street (1947), Buttercrane Quay (1920) and Hospital Road (1772).
Commenting on the figures Wilson said "The scale of these fines raises the question of whether current parking arrangements are hampering local retail. Naturally, there is a responsibility on everyone to park responsibly but parking can be daunting with the various apps and restrictions."
