Manager to adopt Traveller accommodation scheme

Sligo county manager Hubert Kearins is set to become the first local authority manager in the State to use his executive powers to adopt a Traveller accommodation programme.

The failure of Sligo Borough Council to adopt a programme containing proposals for 30 new housing units has been a source of ongoing controversy in the town.

Labour Party leader Pat Rabbitte was urged to intervene following the failure of two Labour councillors to support the plan.

Two local priests have, with the support of the Bishop Christopher Jones of Elphin, lobbied political parties in an attempt to have the programme adopted.

There are an estimated 68 Traveller families in Sligo borough, including 30 living on the roadside.

Following last February's controversial vote, Sligo Borough Council became the first local authority in the State to reject a Traveller accommodation plan.

But town clerk John McNabola has, in a report to councillors, indicated the manager will now proceed with the adoption of the programme in accordance with his legal obligations.

The Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act, 1998, requires a manager to adopt a Traveller accommodation programme where a local authority fails to do so.

A rift has developed within the Labour Party in Sligo since the plan was rejected by a vote of seven votes to four.

Two Labour councillors voted against the programme which was supported by their party colleague, Mayor Declan Bree .

At the time he described the vote as "disgraceful".

He said travellers were being condemned to live in Third World conditions.

Cllr Veronica Cawley, one of two Labour councillors to vote against the programme, said it would have meant four Traveller accommodation units being sited in one ward and none in two other wards.

She added there was an onus on every councillor to make sure Traveller accommodation was provided in a fair and reasonable way.

Mr Bree said yesterday he had been asked by constituency officers to apologise for his remarks.

But he had no intention of doing so.

The mayor said he found it "extraordinary and somewhat spine chilling" that people who claimed to share the values of the Labour movement would seek such an apology.

Mr Bree said: "I have no intention of apologising for speaking the truth, I have no intention of reneging on my socialist principles.

"The litmus test of any society is how it treats its marginalised, its disadvantaged, its minorities," the mayor said.