BY DIARMAID DOHERTY
THE owners of a Donegal holiday home say the lack of electric vehicle charging stations around the county is keeping some potential holiday-makers from visiting the county.
Brian and Siobhan Gilfedder own the Mountain View holiday home in Falcarragh which they rent out as a holiday cottage.
The couple recently installed their own electric vehicle (EV) charging station at their holiday home because there is only one charging point in the town of Falcarragh.
And while they say the charging point is an added attraction for potential visitors, they insist there is a real lack of such facilities for electric car owners who might be planning to visit Donegal.
Brian Gilfedder said it’s a debate that needs to happen.
“Can you imagine if you were coming from Dublin or Belfast and thinking about holidaying in Donegal, the first thing you would do is to check out the EV charging stations that are available,” he said.
“In our own area, there is only one charging point in Falcarragh and none in Creeslough or Dunfanaghy. A lot of people will be less likely to come to that area because of the range anxiety involved.”
Brian said he took advantage of a Government grant which covered half of the €1,200 cost involved in installing the EV charging station at his holiday home.
“People might not realise that the grant is available but it’s there, and it was very easy to access,” he said.
Joan Crawford of Fáilte Ireland said the lack of EV charging points is an issue in Donegal.
She said some hotels had installed their own EV charging points.
“We are working with Government authorities and the private sector so that we can get to a situation where we will have a network of charging points along the Wild Atlantic Way,” Ms Crawford said.
The issue has also prompted debate among councillors in Donegal and Bundoran councillor Michael McMahon is among those to raise it at council level in the past. He says he plans to do so again.
Speaking this week to the Donegal News, Cllr McMahon said the town of Bundoran has never had a public EV charging point and in the neighbouring town of Ballyshannon, there is only one.
“It will become a bigger problem the longer this drags on,” he said.
“Nobody seems to be sure exactly who is responsible for installing these charging points, but we need to address this.”
Cllr McMahon said Donegal needs to do everything it can to attract visitors to the county. He previously claimed EV charging points were being advertised in tourism brochures for Donegal, but when people arrive they are either not there or not working.
“There was mis-information in tourism brochures in the past. We need to make sure that doesn’t happen again and the proper information is there for visitors ahead of the summer season.”
Cllr McMahon’s concerns come as the number of electric cars registered for the first time rose sharply in 2022. Electric and hybrid cars accounted for 42.4 per cent of all new car sales in Ireland last year.
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