gardai moving in on travellers in cork

by Yossarian Thu Jul 15, 2004 15:33

The site was cleared by 6pm yesterday evening. One family are likely to be facing charges (possibly on Friday). According to reports, there were about 10 people turned up to suport the travellers. The workers who were there to turn off the water, remove the caravans, block the site, etc continually used the "I'm only doing my job, gotta look after me wife and kids, etc" defence when asked why they were denying a family of a home.
It might have been possible to prevent the eviction being carried out if there was more support.
People passing by in the street tended to signal their support very discreetly whilst those supporting the eviction were very vocal in deriding the supporters.

by David McCarthy - Traveller Visibility Group Thu Jul 15, 2004 16:44 tvg at indigo dot ie 11 Comeragh Park, The Glen, Cork. 021 4503786

Four families pulled out from the site at about 11.30 yesterday morning, unable to take any more pressure from Gardai.
The only person who was charged was the mother of the last family to leave. She left at 5.00pm under huge pressure from the gardai who told her that if she did not drive out while she had the chance, the gates of the site would be padlocked, and a wall would be built across the entrance, not leaving even pedestrian access.
She is a widow living with her three daughters aged from 20 to 12 years. She was too afraid to stay. It was the worst intimidation of a Traveller witnessed by this writer. Even supporters who arrived to demonstrate were threatened with prosecution if they entered the site. (It is privately owned).
She has to appear in Cork District Court at 10.30am tomorrow, Friday. The fine for refusing to leave is €3000 per day. She counted 10 days when the Gardai took her details, so she faces the possibility of a €30,000 fine, plus a month in jail.
She would really appreciate support at the court.

by Sally Cullen Thu Jul 15, 2004 21:13

Why exactly are thse people being evicted?

by nonlawbreaker Sat Jul 17, 2004 00:28

Eh they were there illegally so they were arrested just like anyone who broke the would be.

by Sally Cullen Sat Jul 17, 2004 02:01

So what's all this "solidarity" shit about?

The local authority in Ennis spent thousands of taxpayers Euros building houses for people like this and they refuse to move in because they don't like the neighbours.

by james wsm cork Sat Jul 17, 2004 14:33

The result in Cork District court on Friday was the probation act. Though Mrs Harty was found guilty the judge decided as she was of previous good record and had vacated the site he would dismiss.

About ten people had attended apicket and the case in solidarity.

In the same court a Liberian man was convicted of failing to carry his asylum seeker ID on his person. He had been stopped by two detectives and though he begged them to take him to his home so he could show his ID they arrested him and held him over night to appear in court. He was given the probation act provided he produce his ID to the court.

The solicitor informed TASS (Traveller and settled solidarity) activists that this was his fourth such case in the last two months.

by tess maguire Mon Jul 19, 2004 11:16

Why not invite them over to your place Yossarian? Do they wait to be invited, perhaps they should use the halting sites.

by Yossarian Mon Jul 19, 2004 12:21

Sure I'd invite them over to my place if I had a heap of land sitting around idle. Of course they would use halting sites if there were any. Local authorities all over the country are in breach of their legal obligations to provide sufficient halting sites for travellers. This is the situation in Cork. There is nowhere for Mrs Harty to go legally. What should she do?

by tess maguire Mon Jul 19, 2004 15:03

As far as I know there are 4 halting sites in the Cork city area. How many more are required?
(Who should pay for their construction and maintenance?)

by John, - Grassroots, Cork Mon Jul 19, 2004 16:13

Travellers in Cork and probably all over Ireland, probably the world for all I know are in a no win situation. Traditional roadside sites are being blocked off by boulders and concrete blocks. Halting sites are too few and there never was much common land in this country. If you are a traveller and you can't get a space on a halting site you have to go where you can, disused builders yards such as this one make a good option or perhaps beside a busy road somewhere. Unfortunately nearly everywhere is owned by someone so you are liable to prosecution under the Criminal Trespass Act.(A piece of legislation that seems to be largely aimed at travellers but could just as easily be used against activists. Peace camps etc.) Faced with this many travellers are choosing to give up their traditional way of life and move into council houses, some are moving abroad and turning up homeless in the uk or elsewhere. Either way they are disappearing which seems to be what the government and a sizeable proportion of the population wants. This is a tragedy and criminal with it. Whether you like travellers or not, a way of life is being forced out of existence, people are being made homeless, children are being denied education and peace of mind and I am having my eyes opened to the colossal prejudice inherent in the society I made my home. People say travellers are dirty, violent, scroungers, alcoholics and many other things. All things that are or have been said about native americans, australian aborigines, immigrants and any section of the population really that does not conform to the way of the prevailing majority. It stinks and I'm glad I was at that protest last week and I will be protesting this issue again. If we don't face the lies and ignorance in our own society how can we hope to be effective when we protest against wars and injustice in other countries?

by Caitriona Mon Jul 19, 2004 16:38

Traveller halting sites are poorly serviced and maintained, overcrowded and often situated next to dumps and main roads. The absolute bare minimum of facilities are provided-one toilet and shower per bay-often to cater for more than one family, inadequate sewerage systems often leading to blocked and overflowing drains. Children have nowhere safe to play, with no playgrounds provided.
I write this in response to the rather ill-informed post by Tess Maguire who wonders if they 'should wait to be invited' and that 'perhaps they should use the halting sites'. The fact of the matter is that there are not enough adequately serviced halting sites in the country despite the legal obligation on the Councils to provide just that.
The trespass legislation or Housing (Miscellaneous) Act 2002 which has now criminalised a huge section of the Traveller community was, the Government claim, originally implemented to deal with 'large encampments'. However since its introduction in July 2002, the legislation has been used to move on at least 150 Traveller families living either on their own or in small groups. These families are on local authority housing waiting lists.
Travellers' history of discrimination, exclusion and oppression means that solidarity is long overdue.

by Dave McCarthy - TVG Tue Jul 20, 2004 08:38 tvg at indigo dot ie 11 Comeragh Park, The Glen, Cork. 021 4503786

Reading over the posts above, it is all there. I mean, the reasons why Traveller evictions are to continue. There is such acceptance and repetition of misinformation about Travellers, I wonder at times how anybody succeeds in finding the truth. Bravo John for using your eyes and ears to decipher the facts from a confusing picture, not helped by trite commentary by many in the mainstream media, and it seems, by some who post in Indymedia.
To understand the issues about Travellers, I would recommend witnessing an eviction, and in particular, meeting the Travellers face to face. Unless you are completely cynical, many of your thoughts and feelings about Travellers will probably change. I have found that most Travellers enjoy the opportunity of meeting us settled folk, and finding out that we are not all bad. And the more ordinary Traveller men and women that you meet, the less likely you are to fall for the stereotypes that and fed to us.
Some earlier posts caught my eye...

Yossarian: "It might have been possible to prevent the eviction being carried out if there was more support" Preventing an eviction does the Travellers no favours. It would probably result in a more brutal approach to future evictions, i.e. a greater Garda presence, use of private security firms, and allowing less savoury characters to get away with abusive behaviour.
Also, by staying on the right side of the law, activists retain credibility as witnesses in the event of something happening.

Sally Cullen and nonlawbreaker: Yes the six families who were parked at Water Lane broke the law by parking there. But that does not mean that the law is right. It is only a few years since it was illegal for black skinned people in South Africa to use facilities that were reserved for whites. Yes, it appears safe to rely on the argument that . . . "they were there illegally so they were arrested just like anyone who broke the (law) would be."
Now look at the facts. Mary Harty (the woman who was in court) is on the accommodation waiting list with Cork City Council, along with 4000 others, the majority of whom are settled people. In the meantime, she has nowhere legal to live, so she moves with her three children from place to place, hoping that she will not be evicted too quickly after finding her new place to park her caravan. If she leaves Cork to escape the incredible stress that this causes, (there have been more evictions in Cork than in the rest of Ireland put together) she risks losing her place in the waiting list. Now put yourself in Mary Harty's situation and tell me what you would do.

Tess Maguire: "As far as I know there are 4 halting sites in the Cork city area. How many more are required? (Who should pay for their construction and maintenance?)" Tess, the four existing halting sites have space for 46 families. Up to a year ago, nearly 80 families were crammed into them. Many of those families are now living on illegal roadside camps, having been evicted from the halting sites.
Research published in March this year by Brennan and Ó'Ceallacháin shows the need for 10 year-round plus 5 summer-only transient sites. The need for additional halting site space is difficult to measure as many newly-married couples see little prospect of getting their own halting site bay, and so are opting to go on the housing waiting list instead. This seems to be the only option open to them, as Cork City Council have no plans to build a fifth halting site. While these young couples are waiting for an offer of accommodation, the repeated evictions start for another Traveller family who are, due to no fault of their own, breaking the law. The cost of construction and maintenance of halting sites is met by the local authority. Is there an issue with that? Some better-off Travellers have tried to build their own halting sites in different parts of Ireland, most recently in Co. Kildare. They could not get planning.

by Tony Donnelly Drummond - PhD STUDENT Wed Aug 04, 2004 15:55 a.drummond at ulster dot ac dot uk

Yesterday (03/08/04) the Daily Express front page concerned Travellers being allowed to 'flout the law' .This referred to the fact that Travellers have bought land in England and have built a site without planning permission. The judge has allowed them to stay there until early 2005 when their case will be reviewed.
It is most probable that the judge is aware of previous Human Rights cases in Strasbourg which considered that European signatories to the Human Rights Act (including the Republic of Ireland from 31/12/03) will not be able to continually ignore the accommodation issues of this community. It will be interesting to see how long this continues, athough not, I am sure if you happen to be a Traveller.

by Al Wed Aug 04, 2004 22:21

Im sorry? Am I reading right? Its now acceptable to break the law for personal gain is it? You know what most people do when they are on a waiting list? Get a job, pay tax and rent. I have to do it, the guy next door has to do it and so does the lady above.
As for lack of education, they can attend school just like every other person but dont, thats the decision they make.
This country is so full of people blaming others for their situations but you have to take responsibility for yourself. The fact is most travellers have money, dont pay tax and choose this way of life.
I have dealt with hundreds of travellers and they cant even tell me what their "way of life" is anymore. Also, how many can still speak Cant? Thats a part of their heritage.

by jacko Fri Aug 06, 2004 11:45

The postman disagreed with the travellers drinking after hours and was found stabbed to death outside the pub. Charming.

by dave Mon Sep 13, 2004 01:16

if they really are travellers then they should stay on the move, I reckon the solution is simple, all travellers must register with the government, their numbers are recorded, then facilities are built all around the country to house their caravans, then a tax is levied for the upkeep of the facilities(parking, washing, drainage, whatever)
SIMPLE!