As long as Travellers are cast in the role of outcasts in society, they are not going to try to behave in a way that is acceptable to the settled community, according to the Bishop of Killaloe, Dr Willie Walsh. Speaking to Gordon Deegan Bishop Willie Walsh tells of his thoughts on the Traveller accommodation problems in Clare

The recent legislation allowing gardaí forcibly remove and confiscate illegally parked Traveller caravans had driven a further wedge between the settled and Traveller communities, Bishop Walsh said.

"If I am being told that there is no place in this society where I am welcome, it is unlikely that I am going to have a great deal of respect for the laws and customs of that country.

"I think we really have to decide to give the Travellers a place in society and only then are we entitled to demand certain standards of behaviour from them."

In response to the situation in Ennis where there are a number of homeless Traveller families, Bishop Walsh has provided his front lawn as an unauthorised halting site to provide "temporary relief" for 12 families.

With many of the families in situ since May, Bishop Walsh has set a deadline of today for the Travellers to move on in response to the potential health hazard caused by the halting site, which is without sanitary facilities.

Stating that he can understand the motivation behind the recent legislation due to the damage caused by large encampments in Dublin, Bishop Walsh said: "I do think to apply the legislation to individual families who have been in an area for long periods when there is nowhere to go for them is practically telling them to disappear."

He adds: "I think that it must be a fairly hurtful feeling to be told effectively that there is no place for you in this society."

Bishop Walsh remarks that 20 or 30 years ago there were certain traditional places along country roads that Travellers could pull into. He said: "All of these have disappeared and I think it is sad, the sight of large boulders right across the country, blocking off these places."

Bishop Walsh said that local authorities, the settled community and Travellers were all to blame for the current situation. "Each sector has to take a share of the blame. I think we will never get a solution as long we blame each other and apportioning blame will only drive the two groups further and further apart."

He said: "We have to begin again by trying to have a deep respect for every person. Even if they are behaving in a way that is offensive to me, I still think I have to see that person as a person who is worthy of respect.

"One of the difficulties is we in the settled community don't talk to people in the Travelling community. There is a fear and a lack of trust, a lack of understanding and a lack of respect towards the Travelling community."

On his experience of sharing his grounds with 12 Traveller families over the past couple of months, he said: "It has been a learning experience. The 12 families there are very different from each other and I see that very much close at hand in simple terms of tidiness and causing nuisance late at night.

"There are five different groups who are not particularly friendly with each other. We are inclined to see them all as one group and the idea of lumping Travellers together really is a bit offensive.

"I think that the life of the Traveller is quite a difficult one. I hear people saying how well off the Travellers are but I haven't come across a settled person yet who wants to become a Traveller."

The bishop said that providing proper accommodation was key. "I would urge local authorities to speed up the various accommodation programmes and appeal to the settled community to co-operate with local authorities and not go to court to prevent the sites from going ahead.

"I think we would be shocked if we knew how much has been spent on legal fees in relation to Traveller-related disputes over the last 10 years."

Bishop Walsh said that the accommodation issue "is not an enormous problem".

He said: "It is difficult. It is a challenge for any community that is trying to be Christian. I do not accept that there is no solution to it if there is the willingness on all sides to understand each other's point of view."