Council asks group of 60 Travellers to move from Kerry's Blue Flag beach

A group of Travellers and traders which has set up in a car-park at one of Kerry's Blue Flag beaches, Banna Strand, has been …

A group of Travellers and traders which has set up in a car-park at one of Kerry's Blue Flag beaches, Banna Strand, has been asked to move on by officials from Kerry County Council.

However, the council has no immediate plans to seek a court injunction to force the group of up to 15 caravans, vans and cars out.

"We have spoken to them and they said they will move," a council spokeswoman said yesterday.

Four of the caravans are parked near the famous Roger Casement monument at Banna, and the remainder of the group occupies one of the beach's three car-parks.

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Many of the group of 60 are believed to have come directly from an open area of woodland in the Killarney National Park where they were camped for over a fortnight. Council officials say they moved from the park on Sunday night.

A spokesman for the Killarney National Park said they had left the area in a "reasonably good state" with mainly garden cuttings, chippings and hedge cuttings left behind.

While they were there, the Travellers said they were on holiday and there were too many of them to move into a regular tourist caravan park. They also said they could not afford the fees at a regular park.

They left when National Park officials began erecting bollards. However, Mr Paddy O'Sullivan of Duchas said the heritage organisation would be reluctant to build high banks and place bollards around the park because it would spoil the character of the area.

There have been calls from conservationists and councillors to change the law to allow for more speedy removal of Traveller groups from popular tourist spots by authorities during the summer months.

Mr Billy Leen, a Kerry county councillor, said: "We all respect the right of Travellers to live and to move around. But they have to be responsible as regards litter and sanitary affairs."

Ms Brid O'Brien, a spokeswoman for Pavee Point Travellers Centre, said a network of transient sites around the country during the summer would quickly solve the annual difficulties between the settled community and Travellers.

A national accommodation agency should be established to look at Travellers' needs, she said.