The Bishop of Killaloe, Dr Willie Walsh, has made the front lawn at his diocesan palace available as a temporary halting site for five Traveller families, including two who were recently evicted from the Cork city area.
The five Traveller families set up camp at Westbourne Palace in Ennis, Co Clare, after approaching the bishop to move onto the diocesan property.
Last December, Bishop Walsh did not go ahead with tentative plans to establish a temporary halting site at Westbourne to ease the Traveller accommodation crisis in Ennis.
The bishop did not proceed after being informed that the initiative required planning permission - planning permission has not been obtained for the current halting site.
Bishop Walsh stressed, however, that the current move was a means of offering "temporary relief" to the Traveller families and he did not wish to make a general statement on the matter.
He said the Travellers would be in situ "for a couple of weeks",adding that two of the families who were evicted in Cork belonged to the Clare area.
Mother-of-two Ms Kathleen Delaney said yesterday: "We're getting moved and moved like wildlife and we can't find a proper place to stay."
She said the bishop was approached by the O'Donoghue family after three weeks of being moved from place to place. "We have kids here for school but they can't go."
She added that if the councils in Clare "had done a proper job and provided a transient site, there would be no need for the families to stay in the bishop's yard".
She said they were evicted in Cork because they were on private property and council ground.
"We know the bishop for years and we are very thankful to be left here."
Asked how long the families will remain, Ms Delaney said: "The way it is, we could move today, we could move tomorrow, and we could go away down the country and come back in a couple of weeks."
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