A 26-YEAR-OLD man who suffered serious injuries when he set himself on fire in a protest in Dublin on Tuesday night has discharged himself from hospital.
Gardaí and Dublin Fire Brigade were called to the demonstration at an unofficial halting site in Coolock, where four men had doused themselves in petrol and threatened to set themselves alight. The men said they were protesting over poor living conditions and their treatment by the local authority.
The injured man was treated for second-degree burns at St James's Hospital, but is understood to have discharged himself, against medical advice, yesterday.
Robert Gavin, another of the men who took part in the protest, said representatives of the 20 families living on the site at Oscar Traynor Road organised the demonstration out of frustration at their poor living conditions and an ongoing dispute with Dublin City Council.
"There's no light at the end of the tunnel. It's court case after court case," he said.
"The main issue is the kids. We believe we're entitled to more than this. We're living in a country that is very charitable to other Third World countries and I'm sure that our local authority can provide us with something better than this," Mr Gavin said.
Martin Collins of Pavee Point Travellers Centre said the families were living in "absolute squalor and deprivation", with no running water or electricity, although he insisted any threat to self-harm was "counter-productive and futile".
"It's ridiculous in this day and age that people have to live in deprivation and squalor. The children are suffering; there's no education; the level of emotional stress is quite stark," Mr Collins said.
"What is needed here is a more mature, responsible attitude from all the parties - to sit down around the negotiating table."
A spokeswoman for Dublin City Council said the High Court ruled this month that the council had not failed in its duty to provide housing to the Travellers involved in the protest.
The council will seek an anti-trespass injunction at the High Court today to remove the families from the land at Oscar Traynor Road.
