Tenants face eviction for horses in back gardens as council cracks whip

Council house tenants who continue to keep horses in their back gardens will be faced with eviction in the future.

Members of Galway City Council have passed a motion implementing a crackdown on stray horses in city estates and allowing for the eviction of local authority tenants who refuse to stop housing the animals on their property.

Councillor Terry O’Flaherty – a long-term campaigner against wandering horses in the city – put forward the motion, which was passed 12-2 by councillors. Cllrs Catherine Connolly and Mike Crowe voted against the motion, while Ollie Crowe was absent.

Meanwhile, bye-laws are set to be introduced to ban ‘sulky’ racing in the city’s streets and estates.

“I’ve been trying to get something done about this for years. I’m sick of it, and residents of certain estates are sick of it. There are six boarded up houses in one estate, and more residents will move out if nothing is done,” said Cllr O’Flaherty.

The councillors have also called on the Government to introduce an outright ban on keeping horses in residential areas.

Director of Services for the Environment, Joe O’Neill, said the Council was very proactive in dealing with stray horses, but he stressed that the local authority just did not have the staff for a 24/7 service.

“We are pursuing people, not just tenants, who bring horses into estates. I have no difficulty in going after people. It’s totally unacceptable what’s going on in some parts of the city,” said Mr O’Neill.

However, he said it may prove difficult to evict a tenant of a local authority house, as the tenancy agreement relates to the property itself, whereas the animal may be kept on a green area just yards away.

Last week, this newspaper reported that the City Council had 50 horses slaughtered last year. None were seized in the two years prior to 2012.

Meanwhile, it was decided at the meeting this week that bye-laws are to be introduced which ban sulky racing throughout the city. Sulky races are popular in the Traveller community and are held between two or more horses or ponies pulling two-wheeled light carts, usually on a public road, which has often led to disruption for other road users, with concerns also aired about a threat to people’s safety.

For more on this story, see today’s Galway City Tribune