This article is from page 16 of the 2013-08-20 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 16 JPG
GARDAÍ are investigating the circumstances of a suspicious fire that broke out at a former Traveller accommodation site in Ennis at the weekend.
The incident occurred at around 1.50am on Saturday, August 17, when a vacant house at the Ashline site on Kilrush Road caught fire in what Gardaí have described as “suspicious circumstances”.
The fire service attended the scene and the Gardaí in Ennis are investigating the circumstances of the fire. This is the second time this year that fire has broken out at the Ashline site, which cost € 1.7 million to build.
In February a fire caused an estimated € 200,000 worth of damage to two units which rendered the development unhabitable. Ashline is currently unoccupied and Clare County Council have previously stated that it does not have any plans to refurbish or rebuild the houses.
The Ashline Traveller housing unit was vacated in November 2012 fol- lowing an arson attack that damaged the last occupied unit in the group scheme. In total five units at Ashline have been the subject of arson attacks and the development of now vacant and closed. According to figures from Clare County Council, up to 14 per cent of all Traveller accommodation units built by the local authority in recent years have been destroyed by arson attacks with nine houses damaged beyond repair.
Seperately, Gardaí in Ennis are also investigating an incident in which a children’s playground was damaged. The incident occurred between 6pm n Friday, August 16, and 11am on Saturday, August 17, in the Cloughleigh area of the town. The surface of the playground was damaged.