Travellers tap into rail company's electricity

IARNRÓD EIREANN has put 24-hour security in place at a freight yard after senior railway officials were astonished to discover that Travellers had hooked up to their electricity supply.

A spokesman for the company said serious disruption could have been caused to train services on the Cork-Cobh line if the unauthorised tapping of electricity had interfered with points and signalling.

Iarnród Eireann spokesman Barry Kenny accused those responsible of “ludicrous, reckless behaviour,” adding that the Travellers had attached electricity cables to their caravans in the past week. He said senior engineers in the company had never witnessed such problems before. Mr Kenny confirmed that the cables had been removed from the Travellers’ unofficial halting site at North Esk, Glanmire, Co Cork, last Sunday: “We have been concerned at the Traveller presence in the area since they moved in there about three months ago and we have reported a number of problems to the gardaí.”

A senior Garda spokesman confirmed yesterday that they had been present when the cables were seized. He said the cables linked the railway’s electricity supply to caravans.

“The railway line between Cobh and Cork is subject to weekly inspections. We believe that the cables, which were feeding power to the caravans, were put in within the last week,” Mr Kenny said.

He said the company had now put in 24-hour security at the North Esk freight yard and was endeavouring to have the Travellers removed from the adjoining illegal encampment: “If the signalling was to shut down, everything would come to a stop. It would lead to cancellation of services and cause serious disruption on the line.”

Thousands of commuters use the 19 Arrow train services, which run each way on a daily basis.

Cork Traveller Visibility Group spokesman Dave McCarthy said that, while he didn’t condone the unauthorised use of electricity, Travellers were being forced to locate in unsuitable areas because local authorities were not making enough fully serviced halting sites available: “The presence of unofficial Travelling sites is commonplace and inevitable until adequate sites are found in the city and county.”