PAVEE POINT Travellers’ Centre has condemned as “shocking but not surprising” an arson attack on a house which was due to be occupied by a Traveller family.
Gardaí are investigating the fire at the house in the parish of Kilmacow, south Co Kilkenny, which occurred early on Saturday.
A family who were “finding it difficult to settle” in a housing estate in a nearby town, according to the county council, had been given the keys on Friday, and had begun moving in their belongings.
The council bought the three-bedroom bungalow, in the area of Dunkitt and close to the new M9 motorway, last year from the National Roads Authority and spent €110,000 refurbishing it.
The refurbishment work finished just last week, and the house was allocated to a family who were living in an estate in a local town who were “unhappy” in that environment, Kilkenny Co Council’s director of services, John McCormack, said yesterday.
He said the family had started to move their possessions into the house and many of those were destroyed in the weekend blaze, which caused extensive damage.
“Early on Saturday morning, entry was forced to the rear and it was set on fire. Gardaí have confirmed to us that it was arson,” he said.
The family – a father and five children – were “devastated” by what happened, he said, “because they were looking forward to moving in, but also devastated that someone would do this.”
He himself was “disgusted” by what had happened, and said it was “highly unlikely” the family would now move into the house.
The council official confirmed that there were “some concerns” voiced locally about the allocation of the house, “but nothing that would lead us to this”.
He said that there were few houses nearby, and the nearest villages, Mullinavat and Kilmacow, were about 5km away.
Local Fine Gael councillor Pat Dunphy condemned the attack on council property “at a time when council funds are low”.
“ It’s not good. All that has to be paid for, so it’s a big loss.”
Pavee Point spokesman Martin Collins said that while the incident was “shocking, it’s not surprising” and urged gardaí to bring the culprits to justice.
“Unfortunately it’s not unusual. It has happened before. I think it really indicates the lengths that some people will go to not to have Travellers live in what they regard as their estate or community.
“It reveals the level and depth of prejudice and racism that Travellers have to endure in this country.”