Traveller challenge to council housing decision

A Traveller family living on the roadside in Co Wexford has taken a High Court challenge to Wexford County Council's refusal to allocate the family a house in the village of Clonroche.

Patrick and Mary Connors, who have four children aged from 10 to 13 years, are currently living in a one-bedroom caravan on the outskirts of the village, with no access to running water, toilets or electricity.

They claim the council has refused to give them a house in Canon Murphy Park, Clonroche, despite the fact, they claim, that two houses in the estate have been boarded up and vacant for about two years.

They want to live in Clonroche to be near other family members and because Mr Connors is a native of Clonroche. His parents and five of his siblings live in the village in local authority housing.

The couple claim the council has adopted the view that there are enough Traveller families in the village, there being nine Traveller families divided between two housing estates. The council has a policy of creating a social mix in housing estates, the court was told.

The Connors claim the operation of a quota has left them effectively homeless and breaches the provisions of the Equal Status Act, the Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act, the Constitution and EU directives.

The council refused to give the Connors a house in Clonroche because the couple had refused three previous offers of accommodation, it is claimed. However, the other offers were not in accordance with the family's preference, they said. One offer was of a house 30 miles away, while the other two offers were of houses in rural areas three miles from Clonroche. The Connors want to live in the village.

Mr Justice Michael Peart yesterday granted leave to the Connors to bring judicial review proceedings. The judge also granted a stay, pending the outcome of the challenge, restraining the council from allocating one of two houses in the Canon Murphy Park estate to another family.