Parking on both sides of the narrow surrounding roads is blocking access around Navan Fort in Armagh with fears emergency vehicles could be prevented from getting through.
And ABC Council is being asked to consider opening the Navan Centre’s car park in the evenings as a practical solution.
The Navan Centre is council-owned, but the ancient mound is the responsibility of the Department for Communities.
The Navan Fort & Area Heritage Community Group was formed to advocate for Navan Fort and has received multiple complaints about this recurring issue, especially as evenings get brighter in 2026.
A local resident reached out to the group very angry and upset after she tried to visit her mum and found the road was not passable.
She reported having to reverse all the way back again, while making sure she did not hit any parked cars.
She said in her message: “The bright nights are coming in and is this the start of it again? I am so angry I hope you will put a post up on your socials about the double parking.”
If one side is full, drivers have to reverse or squeeze through tight gaps, which is unsafe. And this is a year-after-year problem that worsens as daylight extends.
The Navan Fort & Area Heritage Community Group believes congestion could be eased by opening the Navan Centre car park in the evenings.
Petra Carroll, spokesperson for the Navan Fort & Area Heritage Community Group, pointed out that farming season is starting again, and “there will be tractors moving up and down the road. In previous years, this has been an issue for local farmers, with sometimes an exchange of words when double parking occurred”.
She told Armagh I : “The Navan Centre is just a short walk from the site which makes a practical link between parking and access even more important.”
Petra also highlighted Navan’s broader ambitions as part of the Royal Sites of Ireland UNESCO bid, emphasising that parking problems will need to be addressed as part of that process “hopefully sooner rather than later”.
“This is something that has to be sorted out,” she added. “You can’t really change parking near the site, so the safest option would be to use the Navan Centre’s facilities. It would be wonderful if walkers and visitors could use it.”
Petra said the Navan Fort & Area Heritage’s Facebook page has received messages from people saying they were not able to park and “had to turn back home”.
“We want visitors to come to the site, enjoy it, and walk away with a positive experience—not be put off by parking issues,” she said. “I’ve tagged local councillors in the post, but so far there hasn’t been any contact from them—only Armagh I.”
