Illegal encampment law inadequate, claims council

CLARE County Council has issued approximately 215 legal notices in relation to illegal Traveller encampments in Ennis and its environs over the last two years, resulting in serious and ongoing financial and human resource implications.

The county council has also confirmed it has requested the relevant government departments to review the legislative framework on illegal encampment as it considers the current laws are inadequate to deal with this problem.
Responding to a number of queries about the illegal parking of six Traveller families on the Ennis Bypass near the Barefield roundabout, the council declined to comment on the specifics of this case.
However, in a statement, the council pointed out they had served notices under the Roads Act a number of weeks ago on the occupants of temporary dwellings on the national road network near the current encampment. These notices were complied with and the caravans were removed.
“The council is liaising with other agencies including An Garda Síochána and the Health Service Executive in preparation for enforcement action against the occupants of the illegal encampment at Barefield. This illegal encampment is seriously impacting on the local community and the council is in regular contact with members of the community.
“The council is using all its available powers to address and stop illegal encampments. The council views illegal encampment as not in the interests of the Traveller Accommodation Programme or the wider community,” the statement read.
The Clare Champion understands that on foot of an order issued by Clare County Council to move their temporary dwelling within 48 hours, the Traveller family moved to a new location a short distance away. An embankment was subsequently installed at the original site by the council.
The Clare Champion has also obtained documents, which show the extended O’Donoghue family, who are now illegally parked in Barefield, were categorised with 13 other families as living on the roadside back in 1996 in the council’s Traveller Census.
It is also in receipt of extensive correspondence between Shaun Elder, solicitor and Clare County Council when the O’Donoghue family, who were seeking accommodation, were illegally parked in the Hurlers Cross, on the outskirts of Shannon, in September, 1992.
In a letter from the county secretary at the time, the council stated they would be happy to accommodate the O’Donoghue’s on its authorised halting site at Drumcliffe, in Ennis.
Mary O’Donoghue, who has 12 children, has lived all over Clare on the side of the road and never stayed in a halting site. Her mother is from Ennistymon, her parents are buried in Drumcliffe and her family spent some time camped at the Hurlers Cross in 1992.
Mary claimed they were promised a halting site by the council but no significant progress was made despite the best efforts of Shaun Elder, solicitor, because the local authority kept on moving them.
In 1994, she recalled they moved to Kilkee and Kilrush during the summer and left winter caravans at the Hurlers Cross. When they came back to their caravans, they were burned out.
“We are not a new family. We have been in Clare all our lives but the council has not been listening to us,” she alleged.
It was claimed at a recent council meeting Travellers at the Barefield site told council officials they wouldn’t move because the council would have to spend money in the courts to get them moved.
She accepted the council had advised them they were illegally parked but she said she responded by telling them “we have no place else to go”.
“We don’t want to cause hassle to anyone and want to live like anyone else in a house or site. I blame the council for our living conditions. They got plenty of money down through the years to help us and didn’t help.
“We are not blaming the residents or neighbours for being down on us. If we had something better to go to, we would not be here. If the council can get us a place, we would be happy to go to it. If we could get a house, we would move in immediately because the living conditions on the side of the road are just too bad.
“There are no Travelling people on the side of the road in this day and age. All the Travelling people are accommodated. We are the only Travelling people on the side of the road,” she claimed.
Mary suffers ill-health and has letters from her GP to substantiate her claims. She also believes that for her own benefit, she needs to be housed.
One Traveller, who didn’t wish to be named, proposed that the council could tarmac the green area it owned near the humpback bridge where they are currently illegally parked, provide electricity and toilet facilities on a temporary basis until more suitable accommodation is found.