Sir, - I'm writing to you on behalf of Bridget, a friend of mine. Bridget is a Traveller, who has for the past 25 years lived with her family on a rat-infested temporary site in Hillside, Galway, while waiting for the county council to provide proper accommodation for herself and her family.
A few years ago she was offered accommodation at a serviced site at Carrowbrowne, but she refused it. Why? Because the Carrowbrowne site is on the Headford Road, only yards from the city dump. This has meant rats all year round, plus swarms of flies in the summer. There is also a putrid smell, which meant windows had to be kept shut tight even on the hottest of days.
Now, at last, the council is building a group of houses for a number of Traveller families including Bridget's, behind the church at Hillside. Every day Bridget watches as the houses go up. And as each day goes by, she's horrified to see how on top of one another they are: the tiny yard-space back and front; how near the front doors of facing houses are. Already she feels the claustrophobia of the six-foot-high concrete walls that surround each house and the high concrete wall that forms an enclosure for the entire compound, creating a ghetto that not only blocks a view of Galway Bay but sunlight as well. That a local government should enclose a group of Traveller houses with a high wall can only mean they want to hide them from view. "You wouldn't treat an animal like that," Bridget commented.
Travellers have suffered racism and discrimination in this country for decades. This new housing scheme at Hillside is discrimination at the highest level. As a teacher of Travellers for many years, I want to add my voice to all who deplore such treatment.
It is of crucial importance that Travellers should have a say in any planning to meet their needs. Not only that, they must be listened to when they do make their suggestions on planning. - Yours, etc.,
Maureen Gallagher, WP Ireland, Castlelawn Heights, Galway.