Judge warns UDC on sites for Travellers

The closure of Teagasc's Co Clare headquarters in Ennis has been averted after a Circuit Court judge ordered the removal of Traveller caravans from outside the offices by noon on Friday next.

Before ordering the removal of the nine-member McDonagh family from Ennis's Station Road, Judge Harvey Kenny said that Ennis Urban District Council must grasp the nettle and establish Travellers' halting sites. Since February 1997, Ennis has been without any serviced Travellers' halting site.

Judge Kenny said: "The council must stop delaying on establishing halting sites . . . They must grasp the nettle."

He ordered the removal of the McDonaghs, affirming a decision of the District Court, after hearing evidence from a Teagasc safety officer, Mr Frank Laffey. He told the court that the situation at the offices was totally intolerable as a result of the Travellers' presence.

He said: "The offices are being used as a toilet. I have seen excrement in the yard and smeared on the front door of the offices. It is grossly unacceptable."

He said one cleaning company had refused to take on the job. Teagasc was seriously considering moving its offices if the situation continued.

Ms Mary Keane, who operates a nearby B&B, told the court that her business had been completely wiped out since the Travellers moved on to the site in January of last year.

In evidence, Mr Tom McDonagh said that he had kept the area very clean, telling the court that much of the problems caused had been made by other Traveller families who had since moved on. He told Judge Kenny: "I have tried my best to keep the office area clean, but I was told to get out."

Making his ruling, Judge Kenny said: "It is a terribly appalling burden for the people who live and work in the area who have had to put up with this. It is totally unacceptable, the habit of defecating where you wish."

He told the McDonaghs that wherever they moved they must keep the location clean.

He reserved judgment on an appeal by another Traveller family to have a District Court order for them to leave another location in Ennis quashed. However, he asked the urban council to consider providing a refuse collection for the 10member Keenan family, who are living in two caravans outside the local Tesco store.