The Galway Traveller Support Group has accused city councillors of overreacting in claiming that local authority tenants were "living in hell" since a number of Traveller families moved into their estates.
The families were relocated on a temporary basis to estates on the east side of the city at the weekend to allow for the demolition of housing units at Hillside Park in Ballybane.After they moved, three houses were set on fire. Two of the unoccupied houses were destroyed in what gardaí have described as suspicious circumstances.
Cllr Declan McDonnell said a lot of damage was caused by Traveller families in their first 48 hours of moving into one estate in Ballybane, with cars and windows broken and people threatened. "As far as I am concerned, there is one law for everybody and if people of a certain culture are not willing to live within the laws, then they must leave," he said.
Ms Margaret Ó Ríoda, of the Galway Traveller Support Group, said that individuals who were causing trouble in local authority estates should be dealt with through the council process and all Travellers should not be blamed for the actions of a few.
