Dublin's Dreaded Clampers

Dublin City Council pay a huge amount of money every year to a private company to clamp illegally parked cars in the city. Because it's a private company out to make the maximum amount of profit they show no mercy and literally hundreds of cars are caught every day - my theory is that the company's employees are on a commission and so clamp as many vehicles as possible. The clampers are - for obvious reasons HATED by motorists, not only because to get your car unclamped you have to stump up €80 but also the clampers are almost to a man bad mannered and abusive. It's an unpopular job and usually the only type of person interested in doing it are "bouncer/doorman" type characters. They have often been attacked by angry motorists and there is no love lost between them and a public who view clamping as a heavy-handed approach to parking enforcement.
I once saw 2 French registered cars clamped in the city centre on a Sunday afternoon. They obviously were unaware of the parking restrictions and I can imagine that this petty act ruined their holiday in Dublin. At least the City Council in Galway had the good sense to discontinue clamping because it was affecting business and tourism in the city. Gaillimh abú.