A plan to relocate Travellers in Nenagh, Co Tipperary, has run into opposition from councillors and residents.
The plan by North Tipperary County Council to relocate eight Traveller families from their existing substandard accommodation at Ballyvillane, Nenagh, to a site owned by Nenagh Urban Council at Lisboney, on the opposite side of the town, was rejected unanimously by local councillors last week.
Locals are objecting to moving the Travellers because they claim the new temporary site is not safe because of its location beside a railway track and the main Dublin road.
The Travellers at the Ballyvillane site are waiting for planned refurbishment to go ahead. Yesterday a spokesman for the Traveller Support Group said: "The plans, and the money for the plans, have been approved by the Department of the Environment. From a Traveller's point of view, it is very frustrating.
"They are waiting for an alternative site to be found so that facilities at the site at which they are now are brought up to standard. They are exercising great patience," the spokesman added.
North Tipperary County Council plans to move Travellers from Ballyvillane because of legal obligations under the Traveller Accommodation Act and other case law.
The Ballyvillane site, which was built in the 1970s, has no running hot water.
Nenagh UDC's decision to vote against the temporary relocation could be overruled by North Tipperary's county manager, who has the final say in the matter.
"I consider it to be a suitable site, and at the moment there is no alternative," said the manager, Mr Terry O'Niadh.
"The current site is not built to standard for Traveller accommodation. We are required, under case law, to provide a certain standard of accommodation for Traveller families," he said.
The chairman of Nenagh Urban District Council, Mr Tony Sheary, yesterday expressed his dissatisfaction with the situation.
"I was elected for people by the people. I now seem to have no power but to express my displeasure," he said. "We are not objecting to the Travellers. We are objecting to the fact that this is not a suitable site. It is at the side a of road and at the edge of a railway track."
A member of a local residents' group, Mr Tommy Moylan, who is also a UDC member, emphasised the residents' objection to the relocation site because of safety concerns.
"It is a very busy road and it is located about 10 yards from a very busy junction. There are real concerns over the safety aspect of the project," Mr Moylan said.
He also emphasised the apparent powerlessness of Nenagh UDC in relation to the matter. "If we don't give the go-ahead, the county manager will overrule councillors, which he is entitled to do," he said. The county manager confirmed that the temporary site at Lisboney will only be used in the short term while refurbishment takes place at the current site. Local councillors and residents intend to express their opposition at a meeting with the manager this week.