Traveller committee ‘a waste of time’

THE chairman of a committee designed to address issues surrounding Traveller accommodation in Clare has described it as a “fantastic waste of time” because there are currently no Travellers involved.

Councillor Brian Meaney, chairman of the Local Traveller Accommodation Consultative Committee claimed “plea after plea” has been made in a bid to get Travellers involved but to no avail. There are three places available on the committee for representatives of the Traveller community.
Councillor Meaney was speaking at a meeting of Ennis Town Council where he commented that Clare County Council has “bent over backwards” to try and facilitate Traveller engagement with the committee, which the local authority is legally obliged to establish.
Members of the Travelling community were contacted by The Clare Champion to enquire why they are not being represented on the committee.
Ennis Traveller John Mongan stated that he would be interested in joining the committee. Others at St Joseph’s Education Centre in Ennis, which works with Travellers, have also expressed an interest. Mr Mongan, whose family live in Knockanean, noted many Travellers are hesitant to be seen as speaking for the entire community. He added that the needs of Travellers in relation to accommodation are complex.
“Every Traveller has their own way of life and dealing with accommodation is not simple. Some want to live outside of town while others want to live in houses in estates. I am surprised that there is nobody involved with the committee, as many Travellers are involved with the council in different ways. I would definitely be interested in attending the next meeting of the group, I do think it’s very important that Travellers are involved,” he commented.
Brian Crossan, director of St Joseph’s Education Centre, said he believes one of the reasons Travellers have not got involved is that many are not comfortable with the terminology used at meetings. He added that the issue of Traveller accommodation is “complex, one size does not fit all.” He confirmed there has been some interest in joining the committee from members of the Travelling community in St Joseph’s.
At this week’s meeting of Ennis Town Council, Councillor Meaney said, “Clare County Council amended its rules to have representatives from each area on the committee. The committee has sat without Traveller representation despite plea after plea.”
According to the LTACC annual report for 2010, Ennis Community Development Project (CDP), in association with the Irish Traveller Movement, worked to secure Traveller nominees to the LTACC.  At the time of the report, two Travellers were “interim members”. It was proposed by the CDP that increasing the number of Travellers to three might encourage participation and could provide geographical Traveller representation from Shannon, Ennis and Ennistymon.  This was brought to Clare County Council as a recommendation and the council at its June 2010 meeting, agreed to increase the number of Travellers on the committee to three. However, no other Travellers approached the committee.
Councillor Meaney said there is now no member of the Travelling community involved, adding that unless there is Traveller engagement with the committee, he believes there is “no point in continuing with it, we are talking to ourselves”.
“We shouldn’t be wasting time with fanciful notions of providing places on a committee when they are not engaged. We could find other means of spending public funds.
“Clare County Council is meeting its legal obligations; the problem here is not with Clare County Council. We are engaging in a fantastic waste of time,” he said.
Councillor Frankie Neylon believed Travellers “are better looked after then a lot of local people in social housing”.  He advised that the LTACC make decisions “for the betterment of everyone, not just one group”.
Councillor Paul O’Shea described the situation of having a Traveller committee without representation from that community as “fundamentally wrong”.
Councillor Michael Guilfoyle warned against “putting people into boxes”.
“There are a lot of good Travellers out there and a lot of bad. We can’t spend our time working on their behalf if they won’t engage,” he commented.
Meanwhile, Councillor Meaney has also expressed concern about the expenditure of €2,800 a week on the provision of 24-hour security at the Beechpark Halting Site, Ennis since it was extensively damaged in April 2010.
He hoped the introduction of CCTV cameras at the site on the Kilmaley Road would result in the suspension of security at this location.
He said constituents had asked him why the army or the armed response unit was not drafted in to try and curb the ongoing feuding involving some Travelling families in Ennis.
He said once again, people are questioning the huge disengagement between members of the Travelling community and the rest of society, which is resulting in a disproportionate spend on security for Traveller accommodation.
“A number of people have asked me why the army or the armed response unit haven’t been asked to provide security at halting sites. This is a very drastic step but it is something that the council may have to consider if new security measures, such as the introduction of closed-circuit television, don’t prove to be effective.
“I think the recent introduction of a mediator to try and curb the feuding between Traveller families was a positive measure to deal with this problem.
“I have been battling to try and get funding for communities for public lighting, footpaths and a host of different local projects. I appreciate resources are limited but it is hard to see community groups being refused grants or funding when the council is spending so much on security for Traveller accommodation.
“I am aware that vital culture and community projects can’t get the go-ahead due to lack of funds. Funding for Traveller accommodation can be recouped from the Department of Education.
“I would like to see a situation where funding for community projects could be recouped by the Department of Environment,” he said.
Clare County Council spent €565,000 on maintenance and management of Traveller accommodation sites in 2009 and this figure increased to €628,000 in 2010.
Additional expenditure on refurbishment resulting from vandalism at Beechpark, Ballymaley, Ennis and Ballymurtagh, Shannon, amounted to €90,000.
The Beechpark Halting Site was opened in July 2004 at a cost of approximately €2 million. Extensive damage to the site sparked outrage in the community in April 2010, with some residents calling for a total closure of the site.