The campervan industry in Ireland is drowning in council ‘red tape’, the industry has claimed. 

According to the CSO, campervans enjoyed a boom in popularity during the pandemic.

In the first half of 2021 - much of which was spent in lockdown, there were 753 motor caravans and campervans licensed compared to 420 in the first six months of 2019.

Irish Motorhome Working Group Chairperson Jason Carmody recently set up his own campervan site in Limerick but admits things have not been completely straightforward.

“I have one campsite that I opened 17 or 18 weeks ago that I opened at the back of my house,” he said.

“I personally have seen the influx of people here to my local visit.

“Everybody in this local area thinks, ‘This is amazing’.

“Where I have the struggles is with the council - that’s the only issue we have.

“All our local businesses, pubs, restaurants, takeaways have seen increases in business.”

The Inishowen Peninsula, Donegal.

While locals are happy with the site, Mr Carmody wishes the council would be more helpful.

“They just are putting so much red tape in front of people that want to open private areas,” he said.

“Insurance is an issue - it’s quite a lot.

“Also, with the black waste requirements; they want people to put in really large facilities to cater for all this black waste - which is fine.

“I currently have a system, I just need to upgrade it - which is fine.

“I’m willing to put the money in and invest in it but the council just don’t like the idea of private areas.

“I can’t pinpoint it.”

New campsites

Aaron Birchill of The Camping Crew podcast similarly believes officials could do much more to boost the campervan industry.

“We have fantastic campsites all over Ireland that are run by individual private families,” he said.

“The councils could do a little bit more to give us facilities for staying overnight - literally just for one night in a town, where we might want to pop in, do a bit of shopping, do a bit of eating.

“That’s where Ireland is lacking in facilities.

“We have new campsites opening every couple of months and we’ve an abundance of fantastic campsites in Ireland.”

You can listen back here:

Main image: A campervan in Mayo. Picture by: Alamy.com