Council to seek injunction against Travellers at City Hall

Galway City Council says Travellers who remain illegally encamped at City Hall this morning will be served with an injunction if they refuse to move on.

Nine families set up home at the City Hall carpark yesterday after they were moved on from another illegal encampment at Galway Airport in Carnmore.

Last evening, talks were held with Traveller representatives, including the Galway Traveller Movement, but no solution was found.

The families involved say they want a serviced site where they can live securely.

Galway City Council has issued a statement, and says it has been in touch with its Law Agent – and will proceed to seek an injunction if the caravans are not removed immediately.

The statement reads:

“Three weeks ago, a group of caravans established an illegal encampment on a link road in the Rahoon/Knocknacarra area of the city having previously received notice-to-quit from privately owned land in the Galway County Council administrative area. In the interests of health, safety and public health, Galway City Council requested the Traveller families to vacate the area and eligible families were offered homeless services.

“In the early hours of Friday morning, the Traveller families broke a security barrier and entered the site of the former Galway Airport at Carnmore, Co. Galway and attempted to set up an illegal encampment. Following an intervention by An Garda Síochána, the Traveller families left the airport site and proceeded to park up at City Hall in College Road at approximately 1.30pm. The ten caravans and the towing vehicles were used to obstruct the entrance to City Hall creating a health and safety risk for those entering and leaving City Hall.

“There are currently 4,600 households on the Social Housing waiting list which represents more than 10,000 children and adults. Galway City Council has limited capacity and limited resources to deal with the housing situation in the city.

“The Council’s housing allocation scheme is and has to be administered in accordance with the housing allocation scheme. The scheme is based on the principles of proportionality and fairness and the demands of the 9 families cannot over-ride all other families’ rights, including Traveller families currently on the housing waiting list (some of whom have been on the list for over 10 years.)

“Earlier this week, a comprehensive plan in relation to Traveller- specific accommodation was presented to the Local Traveller Accommodation Consultative Committee, the Housing Strategic Policy Committee and was tabled for the Ordinary Meeting of City Council. These proposals will address issues for the medium to long-term for Traveller families. However, the demand made today for a serviced hard-stand with sanitary facilities, to be made available today, cannot be met because there are no serviced sites available in the Galway City Council administrative area. The Council has made every effort to resolve this situation but, as of Friday evening, has been unable to secure any suitable emergency accommodation for these families.

“This illegal encampment cannot remain at City Hall and must be removed. This has been communicated to the families and to representatives of Galway Traveller Movement. An Garda Síochána have been involved in meetings with Galway City Council on this matter. The Council has been in touch with the City Council’s Law Agent and will proceed to seek an injunction if the caravans are not removed immediately,” it reads.