ENNIS TOWN Council has been spending almost €4,000 a month over the past three months on a professional mediator to resolve differences between two feuding Traveller factions in Ennis.
In response to a freedom of information request, the council has confirmed it has paid a mediator €11,400 for mediation services between June 18th and September 22nd last.
The unnamed mediator is being paid €3,800 a month.
Last year, the Garda armed response unit was deployed in the Cloughleigh area of Ennis after a grenade attack on a home in the area.
In a separate incident earlier this year, a 43-year-old Ennis man lost a finger after being set upon by three men wielding a pickaxe handle and other implements as he collected his children from school.
The feud is believed to be between two elements of one family. Earlier this year at the first public meeting of the Ennis Joint Policing Committee, Supt John Scanlan appealed for both sides to stop feuding.
Supt Peter Duff confirmed yesterday he has held talks with the mediator.
He said: “There is calm at the moment and no evidence of any increased feuding. Since my appointment on August 16th, there has been nothing to report, but we are continuing to monitor the situation.”
A briefing document for councillors states the mediator’s brief is to meet parties in dispute, individually and collectively; establish a mechanism for constructive dialogue between the disputing parties; and to make contact with Traveller representative groups, if considered appropriate.
The council yesterday declined to comment on the work of the mediator.
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