Sir, - Nicholas O'Brien (December 2nd) relegates travellers to the role of second-class citizens, whereas they are Irish citizens with rights equal to those of all citizens. They are deserving of standard houses and their opportunities of being housed should not be influenced by the veto of other householders or bodies, as Mr O'Brien proposes. Such a veto does a not apply generally and neither should it apply to travellers.
He writes of accommodation for travellers without mentioning that requirements are standard houses not just halting sites. The continued provision of halting sites without an accelerated housing programme will magnify the problem rather than relieve it. The concept of sites was developed in the Report of Travelling People Review Body, 1983, with the emphasis that they should be a temporary solution pending standard housing. Regrettably, many local authorities look on them as a permanent solution.
Mr O'Brien writes: "There are examples from all over the country of houses which have been provided for travellers being totally wrecked ..." Is this statement based on his personal knowledge of the situation in all counties or just hearsay? While the occasional traveller family may have damaged a house, the same can be said for tenants from the settled community. Many hundreds of travellers have been successfully housed in recent decades and from personal knowledge of a large number in several midland counties the standards of maintenance and decor are high.
Travellers' distinctive culture is not lost on being housed and the objective should be a speeding up of housing, phasing out of halting sites and roadside living. It is 34 years since the Report of the Commission on Itinerancy, 1963, and still many local authorities are not seriously dealing with travellers' housing needs. Direct housing is the most economical way of meeting their needs. - Yours, etc.,
Ballinderry, Mullingar.