Travellers living in a chronically overcrowded site in north Dublin say they will “resist” the forcible removal of caravans and mobile homes they parked on lands they want used for housing for their families.
Dublin City Council served notice on residents of Avila Park housing scheme in Finglas last month, that they must remove about a dozen “temporary dwellings” from a large site adjacent to their estate, by 9am on Thursday, or they may be “guilty of an offence”.
The Travellers say, however, they “had to” move vehicles on to the site, known as the Kildonan lands. They have long hoped it would be used to allow expansion of their estate.
Instead, they have recently learned that the council intended to build almost 200 homes there.
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A planning application for 183 homes on the Kildonan lands will be submitted for planning approval next month.
“Avila Park has become like an overcrowded prison,” says Jerry Collins (53) who has lived there all his life.
“No one is complaining about housing being built, but we need some of the site for Traveller housing. There are young families living in the back yards of their parents’ houses, fed up with the conditions.”
Built in 1969 and then one of just two Traveller housing schemes in the capital, Avila Park comprises 50 houses.
Of these, 22 have caravans parked in adjoining yards occupied by adult children of those living in the houses. The majority have neither electricity nor running water so occupants have to share facilities in the houses.
Patrick Collins (28), who lives in a caravan in his parents’ yard with his wife and baby, moved their van “out of necessity” on to the Kildonan lands.
“I thought this could be a chance to get our own place. We pulled the caravan here in October. We lived in it for a while but there is only so long you can live with no electricity, no water nearby, so I had to go back over to my parent’s yard. It was too difficult,” he says.
“We moved the vans on because there are families who would like to live here if there were facilities.
“But it was also done to make a mark with the council to show we need the extra space. We need the land as well. If houses are built here Avila Park will be surrounded.”
He will be among expected scores of Travellers and supporters at the site on Thursday in anticipation of the forced removal of the vans.
So too will Louise Collins (32), who shares a bedroom with her four children in her mother’s three-bedroom house in Avila Park, also home to her brother and sister. She did not move a trailer on to the Kildonan lands but thought her neighbours’ initiative was a “brilliant idea”.
“We need some of that land, for a bit of hope for our future. As it is, I don’t think the council has much interest in trying to get us housing in here in Avila Park,” she says.
She pays €60 a week rent. Her mother and siblings also pay rent. “We are here years and no further along with facilities. The council is quick enough to take the rent. We are paying for overcrowding. I will definitely be out there protesting. We have to resist.”
[ A decade on, no change in mouldy cold, draughty conditions in Traveller homesOpens in new window ]
Dublin City Council in its Traveller Accommodation Programme (TAP) 2019-2024 – the five-year plan implemented by local authorities to assess and meet the housing needs of the Traveller community – noted 49 houses were occupied in Avila Park with 22 families “in need of accommodation”. It detailed plans to build three houses. Since then one new home has been delivered.
TAP 2025-2029 notes Avila Park’s 50 houses are occupied and 22 households are “sharing”. It says three homes “are due to come under construction in 2025”.
Residents are sceptical even these three houses will be built and say between 20 and 30 are needed.
Paddy Collins (23), who lives in a trailer with his wife and two small children in his parents’ yard, will be at Thursday’s protest.
“We’d like to work with the council, to get a solution for our families. It feels like Travellers are always at the end of the queue when it comes to housing.”
Local councillor Conor Reddy is calling on the council to “de-escalate” the situation and not to proceed with removing the Travellers’ vans.
“I would strongly encourage the council to consider the provision of additional Traveller-specific accommodation on parts of the Kildonan lands, which could meaningfully alleviate the long-standing pressure on the Avila Park site,” he says.
A Dublin City Council spokesman says three planned new homes at Avila Park were being progressed as quickly as possible.
“The council is very happy to meet representatives from the Travelling community, and we have already made efforts to do so over the last number of months, to discuss specific homes in Kildonan being allocated to the Traveller priority list in compliance with Dublin City Council’s scheme of lettings,” he says.
