Homeless Travellers have pleaded with Clare County Council to provide an emergency halting site or field to overcome the accommodation crisis.
A crowd of over 50 Travellers held a protest at the council offices in Ennis late last week, before a representative handed in a letter to county manager, Mr Alec Fleming, asking the council to provide emergency accommodation.
The letter pointed out that there are 50 Traveller children living on the roadside in Ennis - the town has been without a serviced permanent halting site since 1997. With the August 15th deadline looming when the Bishop of Killaloe, Dr Willie Walsh, will ask the 12 families on his front lawn to move on due to a potential health hazard, the Travellers stated that when that date arrives, "we will have to go back to facing the threat of imprisonment and the impounding of our homes".
Bishop Walsh supported the Travellers' request for an emergency site and appealed to local residents not to seek a High Court injunction if Mr Fleming decides to establish emergency accommodation.
A council spokesman said the council would not be in a position to provide an emergency site because planning permission was required first. An application, if appealed, could take up to one year to process.