Traveller family opens its doors to the nation
Tony McDonagh and his extended family live in seven purpose built homes in Newcastle, Co Dublin, which they helped design based on their heritage and culture.
A total of 24 people, from a newborn baby to its great grandparents, John and Brigid McDonagh – both aged 72 – live in Castlebrook, developed by Cluid Housing Association with South Dublin County Council.
It is the first project of its kind in the country and is seen as a blueprint for councils in the future.
“I knew we could do it, I just never thought it would take that long,” said Mr McDonagh, who first approached the council with an idea for the scheme in 2000. “It was totally new for people, we had to get them to think outside the box.”
Nestled together off a rural road, Castlebrook resembles a luxurious housing estate with well-kept grounds, garden ornaments and houses that are meticulously decorated inside and out.
Any fears neighbours had of a Travelling family ruining their idyllic neighbourhood are unfounded.
Council chiefs, housing officials and Travellers said the success of Castlebrook is due to the ongoing dialogue throughout the planning and construction.
The seven houses have no boundary walls to give them a community feel, interior walls have been removed to make them open plan and their windows are bigger to give more natural light.
Each unit cost more than €300,000 to build, with each household paying rent to Cluid.
Mr McDonagh said the cost is worth it compared to the high price paid by councils to develop halting sites which feature metal kitchens and bathroom units with breeze blocks.
He believes bad planning with inadequate halting sites or moving families in to social housing estates and not knowing the needs of the Traveller is the cause of most problems in the community.
“We don’t want to be put in a place where we’re gonna end up being victims, we feel safe within our own community as most people do and that’s the way we want to live,” he continued. “We live a lot different in how we look at things, in what we think is acceptable and we control an area we live in.
“There’ll be no drugs in here, no antisocial behaviour. We know our kids are safe.”
An evaluation report of the scheme found that there was early and, in some cases, persistent opposition to the scheme from some local residents. There were 19 representations from neighbours made to SDCC, but the report claims: “Evidence from the passage of time shows that the fears were unfounded and the owners when consulted on this project, said there are no issues currently and there have been no issues with the residents of Castlebrook.”
However, a wall had to be constructed between the development and the land of one of the McDonagh’s neighbours, and Cluid chief executive Brian O’Gorman said, while that was “an embarrassment”, the level of opposition to the scheme should not be overstated.
He added that while more schemes are planned, the option of using some vacant housing stock was also being considered.
Mr McDonagh, a 44-year-old father-of-four was reared travelling around the country and has since gone back to college. He is now a social care worker for children with Asperger syndrome.
Despite living on the small estate in Newcastle for the last 18 months, the McDonagh family still has little contact with their settled neighbours, although neither have any complaints against the other.
He said while Travellers face discrimination, they should also face the law, especially over violence among members of the community.
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