Galway City Council has impounded the vehicle owned by Ms Anne Naughton, the woman at the centre of the controversy which led to the resignation of former junior minister, Mr Bobby Molloy.
Ms Naughton had refused to pay a fine of €80 to release a clamp placed on her car in Galway city centre earlier this week, and staged a protest about the matter for several days.
Shortly before 7 a.m yesterday, the vehicle was towed away by a truck being operated on behalf of the council and taken to the city car pound on Sandy Road.
The council said it was asked to move the car by the gardaí as it was causing an obstruction. Two people in the car at the time were asked to leave by gardaí, and agreed to do so. Ms Naughton was also present.
"I asked for my bag and keys and I saw it being taken away," Ms Naughton said yesterday, vowing to continue her protest over Galway City Council's policy on car clamping.
Ms Naughton said she would leave the car in the pound. "It is going to cost me," she acknowledged, as the release fee is €125 and there is a daily storage fee of €35.
"I've asked them to give me a bill at the end, but I am seeking an apology for the way in which my car was clamped," she said.
Ms Naughton parked her car on the pavement outside her apartment at Bóthar Irwin, just off Eyre Square, last Tuesday. She said she was moving office furniture from her apartment into the car when the incident occurred.
She had returned to collect something and her car was then clamped. She has a resident's parking permit for the area which applies to disc-parking spaces. There is also a loading bay opposite the premises.
Galway City Council said the car would be released on payment of the towing and storage fees. Some 3,550 cars were clamped in Galway last year, while 15,000 parking tickets were issued.
Ms Naughton, who runs a security firm, created a political row earlier this year when it emerged she had approached Mr Molloy in connection with her brother's court case. Her brother was convicted of raping his daughter.
Mr Molloy resigned when it was learned he had contacted a judge about the case.
