€10,000 bill to stop Travellers tapping power lines
The company’s engineers were astonished to find that Travellers had hooked up to the points and signalling system and were powering a number of caravans.
Since the discovery two months ago, Iarnród Eireann has employed 24-hour security at the site at North Esk, Glanmire, to prevent the Travellers from hooking up to the system again. The ownership of the site is unclear, leading to difficulties in attempts to remove the Travellers.
Iarnród Eireann spokesman Barry Kenny said the hook-up could have had serious consequences not only in terms of human safety, it could also have completely shut down the Cork-Cobh rail line.
“It is a very regrettable situation and we are anxious to remove the Travellers from the site,” Mr Kenny said, adding that 24-hour security would have to remain in place until a solution was found. The company is in discussion with Cork County Council who it was thought owned the land.
However, the strip of land adjacent to the railway line where the Travellers are camped is reclaimed land and a County Council spokesman said last night that the local authority was unsure, as yet, if it owned it: “We are trying to establish ownership at the moment.”
Gardaí were called to the site on October 15 last to remove cables linking the railway’s electricity supply to the caravans. Iarnród Eireann engineers said they had never seen anything like it before.
Deputy Noel O’Flynn said he would be raising the issue with the CIE chairman, John Lynch.
“It’s scandalous for a supposedly cash-strapped organisation like Iarnród Eireann to have to pay out so much for this type of security,” said Mr O’Flynn.
He said every effort should be made by the authorities to have the encampment removed.
Cork Travellers Visibility Group said the lack of proper serviced halting sites forced Travellers to locate in unsuitable areas.
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