Stradbally Councillor issues advice to motorists ahead of Electric Picnic

A Stradbally based Councilor has urged Electric Picnic attendees to charge or fuel up their vehicles before coming to the Electric Picnic. 

Fianna Fáil Cllr Paschal McEvoy made the comments ahead of the influx of 80,000 daily visitors to the town for the music and arts festival on the weekend of Friday, August 29 to Sunday, August 31. 

Although there are plans to introduce new charging facilities in the town, Stradbally currently has neither EV charging points or a filling station for motorists who may have already travelled long distances to attend the festival. 

Cllr McEvoy said Laois County Council was in the process of hiring an engineer to oversee the installation of EV charging points across the county. “We are told we are getting three or four in at the top of the town,” he said. 

“The nearest charging point is in Portlaoise, you are not going to get a charging point in Stradbally, there is none,” he explained. 

Cllr McEvoy explained that while Portlaoise is only 15 minutes from Stradbally, issues can arise for motorists who are low on fuel because of traffic congestion and potentially long queues associated with the event. 

“This time next year we will have a row of chargers,” said Mr McEvoy. 

He was looking forward to this year’s event and urged people to “enjoy it and stay safe”. He said there was a a great buzz around the town ahead of the festivities. “We are expecting it to go off as good as normal,” he said. 

“Hopefully the weather stays good and we don’t have any accidents,” he added.