Organisations representing Travellers have pleaded with the Government to address the needs of their community in relation to dialogue, accommodation and transient halting sites in order to avoid a breakdown in relations with the settled population.
The gloom and pessimism expressed by representatives of the various organisations, who feel their representations and ideas for improving relations between the two communities have been ignored, was striking. And they warned that the goodwill that had existed within the Travelling community towards officialdom was being rapidly eroded.
This is a serious situation. If the already-difficult relations between the two communities reach a point of breakdown, there is no knowing what might happen. Traveller society is changing, becoming more assertive in its demand for basic civil rights, even as the settled community has become less tolerant of their way of life and more protective of its own property values. Recent legislation has empowered the Garda to seize caravans parked illegally, without a court order, and fines for such behaviour have been greatly increased. At the same time, protection under Equality legislation has been eroded.
Anti-social behaviour by a limited number of Traveller families was responsible for the Government's response. But Traveller organisations complain their representations and proposals for improving the situation are ignored. At the same time, legislation requiring local authorities to provide housing and various kinds of halting sites is neglected. The result is that more Travellers are now being forced to camp illegally and fewer of them are being housed.
Councils throughout the State have closed off small, traditional Traveller halting sites with huge boulders and earthen banks, but without providing alternative facilities. Three years ago, a very large group of well-to-do trading families set up a summer camp by the Dodder River in South County Dublin, trashed the place and engaged in extensive anti-social behaviour. Public outrage brought legislation in response to such encampments. In spite of that, a pattern is developing whereby Travellers band together in large groups during the summer and descend on selected areas. Travellers speak of safety in numbers; locals talk of intimidation.
Something must be done. If local authorities refuse to obey the law and provide transient halting sites - only two have done so - then the Minister for the Environment must assume the powers and act upon them. Only after sufficient sites have been provided should the issue of caravan numbers be addressed. In the meantime, the Government must engage in dialogue with representative groups if trust and respect are to be maintained.