This article is from page 2 of the 2006-04-25 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 2 JPG
THE plight of Travellers living on the roadside without sanitation is a thing of the past in Clare with council officials this week confirming that all of the county’s indigenous Travellers have been provided with living accommodation.
Over the past decade, Travellers have been forced to live without running water or toilet facilities as the Council failed to provide adequate accommodation after the closure of its main halting site at Drumcliffe outside Ennis in 1997.
The absence of any serviced accommodation forced Travellers to park illegally in urban areas, resulting in tensions between the Traveller and settled communities.
Bishop Willie Walsh intervened in a bid to resolve the issues and former County Manager, Willie Moloney had his car tyres slashed in a move believed to be connected with the Council seeking to provide emergency accommodation in 2001.
The fall-out from the Council’s failure to accommodate all the families resulted in a number of court battles financed by the taxpayer. Clare was also the first county where Travellers were sentenced to jail terms for contravening trespass legislation.
At the start of the Council’s Traveller Accommodation Programme, in 2000, there were 33 Traveller families living on the roadside. By the end of the plan in 2004, the Council reduced the numbers living on the roadside to 14 at a cost of over €12million.
Now with the provision of emergency accommodation outside Ennis and Ennistymon, the Council claims it has eliminated the problem.
In its latest Traveller accommodation plan to deal with new family formations, the Council has identified accommodation need for 88 families with 64 Traveller families in immediate need and a projected need for an additional 22 families.
County Manager, Alec Fleming said the council was very happy with what has been achieved and are working closely with the other state agencies and the Travelling Community to improve outcomes in a number of areas affecting Travellers.
Spokesman for Traveller rights group, Pavee Point, Martin Collins said that while he welcomed the news, there was a price to pay for Travellers as much of the accommodation didn’t accommodate their way of life, such as keeping horses.
“I don’t think that is inevitable and more should be done by the Council to accommodate Travellers in that way,” he said.