What does it say about the sense of social justice in this State that out of 20 travellers only one can hope to reach the age of 50, because of the conditions they live in? The statistic comes from Dr Desmond Connell, the Archbishop of Dublin, speaking at the much praised St Oliver's Park halting ate at Clondalkin, Dublin, when the Crosscare report on traveller accommodation was launched yesterday.
Only a handful of the halting sites promised in 1986 have been built. The mason for this unacceptable state of affairs, the report says, is not only the opposition of residents' associations but the ill considered choice of unsuitable sites and other administrative deficiencies. The picture is not entirely black. The report strikes a note of optimism by pointing out that opposition from local residents can be and in some cases has been overcome. It also indicates that, contrary to popular prejudice, halting sites appear to have little effect on the price of property near them.
Crosscare's suggestion that the provision of halting sites should be subject to planning approval is an eminently sensible way to deal with local objections. By allowing all parties to air their differences in a legitimate way, the confrontational element would be reduced and the planning system could lay down conditions to meet the concerns of settled people and, travellers.
The report highlights one particularly absurd blockage in the system. Ten years ago Dublin County Council asked eight religious orders to contribute land for halting sites, particularly in south Co Dublin where local authority sites are scarce. But although the orders have stated that they are willing to provide sites for this purpose, none has yet been developed on their land. According to the report, the orders, backed by the Conference of Religious of Ireland, refuse to hand over sites without a written guarantee that they will be developed and managed in the best interests of both travellers and settled people. The county council says it cannot give such a guarantee because it cannot prevent people over whom it has no control from breaching these conditions.
It is not possible to believe that it is beyond the wit of the authorities to find a way out of this extraordinary impasse or that the religious orders are not capable of conjuring up a little more faith in the institutions of this democracy than the details given in the report suggest. Against the possibilities for progress outlined by Crosscare must be set the decision yesterday by the circuit court in Cork to suspend six month prison sentences imposed on two men who had been convicted after terrifying a group of travellers by trying to move their caravans with a forklift truck while the occupants were asleep. According to evidence at the original hearing in Bantry, the incident lasted for an hour and ended only when gardai arrived. Eleven men from Dublin were involved who had been promised £4,000 for their morning's work.
Is this happening, virtually unpunished, in Ireland in 1996? It is certain that the vast majority of people would utterly reject this kind of criminality and will find it difficult to understand why it has not been dealt with more severely by the law. The recommendations of the Crosscare report create an opportunity to balance the record by vindicating the right of travellers to decent accommodation. They should be studied swiftly and favourably by the Department of the Environment.