Members of Limerick's Travelling community have accused Limerick City Council of trying to evict two families from a local halting site in order to make way for a four-metre (13ft) concrete industrial wall.
More than 20 Travellers staged a picket outside City Hall yesterday against the local authority, which they say is forcing families to live illegally at the side of the road. Clonlong halting site, in Limerick's Southill area, was one of the first halting sites in Limerick in 1975. It is home to more than 50 Travellers in three bungalows and eight caravans.
The group's acting manager, Amanda Milne, said yesterday that two families who lived in the direct line of the wall were told they would be issued with a section 10 eviction notice.
"The families are in shock. They have nowhere to move to as there is nowhere else in the site for them to go.
"One of the women who has been told to move is expecting a baby in four weeks time," Ms Milne said. "She was devastated to hear this news, to know that they could be made homeless so close to the baby's birth."
A spokesman for the council denied any families had been told to leave by a particular date and said the council was currently involved in talks with the families.
"The city council is in discussions with the families in Clonlong in relation to conditions of the existing site in relation to accommodation and the construction of a wall by the adjoining industrial estate," the spokesman added.
Planning permission was approved by the council for the construction of the wall, following a request by Galvone Industrial Estate, located beside the halting site.
"The planning department has granted permission for an industrial wall to be built that is 13ft high with prefabricated concrete around a residential area.
"This planning permission should never have been granted. It is against their own planning regulations," said Ms Milne.