Protest against Traveller eviction in Cork

dublin | rights, freedoms and repression | feature Saturday June 24, 2006 19:36 by Caitriona

Protest outside Dail Eireann Against Eviction

Traveller organisations and community groups protested today (24th June 2006) outside Dail Eireann at the forced eviction of a lone parent family in Fermoy, North Cork.

The members of Traveller organisations from Mayo, Tullamore, Galway, LImerick, Clare, Kildare and Dublin were joined by community groups including OPEN, Residents Against Racism and the Children's Rights Alliance.

The Irish Traveller Movement called the protest at short notice to voice opposition to the use of the Trespass legislation. This Act criminalizes trespass on public and private land. Section 24 of the Public Order Act as amended by the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2002, provides that:

"a person without the consent of the owner, shall not enter or occupy any land or bring on to that land any object which might either damage the land or effect any amenity attaching to the land or prevent other people using the land"

Past Indy Coverage: 2003 First Travellers Sentanced Under Tresspass Act | Go - Move – Shift: Anti-Traveller Racism in Ireland | A Very Irish Apartheid: Inequality In Education and Irish Travellers | Out Of Site Out Of Mind:Travellers In Ballymun | The Life Of Breda: Interview With A Traveller Woman | How The New Public Order Act Will Be Used Against Travellers | The Indy Search Engine On Travellers

The woman in question had her caravan impounded and was also detained in Garda custody for a period of time, an act which clearly negates individual, Traveller and childrens' human rights.

This Act is being utilised despite the fact that local authorities have failed to provided sufficient Traveller accommodation as legislated for in the Traveller Accommodation Act (1998). The Traveller Accommodation Act placed an obligation on local authorities to meet existing and projected accommodation needs of Travellers in the Traveller Accommodation Programmes (TAPs) 2000-2004. However, only 3 out of 34 local authorites met their estiated need in this period. There are currently 601 families living on the side of the road with no facilities or services being provided, and many more living and sharing extrememly overcrowded accommodation. It is within this context that the Trespass legislation is targeting the most vulnerable Traveller families, despite contined opposition to the legislation from Traveller and commuity groups.

Solidarity with Travellers