Traveller family face homeless Christmas

A TRAVELLER family will be homeless for Christmas as their caravan was burnt down and they say they are being refused adequate help by Clare County Council.

The council has ordered the O’Donoghue family to return to a controversial group scheme where their caravan was burnt but which they maintain is not safe for their children.

“We have been homeless since Thursday, December 9,” Mike O’Donoghue said. “The Homeless Unit person gave us €400 to purchase clothes for the children and to replace the food that was destroyed.

“That money is spent as instructed for the things we urgently needed but it wasn’t enough to buy school uniforms or the children’s books for their school. They haven’t been able to go back to school since this happened,” Mr O’Donoghue said.

The family have been living on the side of the road around Ennis for some years.

They tried to secure rented accommodation but were turned down once prospective landlords saw they were Travellers. About a month ago, the family was offered a house at the Traveller group housing scheme, Beechpark.

Although they are reluctant to return, due to some troubles there in the past, they felt they have no other option.

According to Anne O’Donoghue, they discovered the site was unsafe after they accepted the offer.

“We hadn’t been living in the house at all because it wasn’t ready. The barrier was opened to let us in. In the meantime, two nights in a row we were threatened. The following night we went off the site to give the kids a bath at my sister-in-law’s. We got a phone call saying there was a fire on the site and went back to find the fire brigade there and the police.

“Our caravan was burnt and destroyed with everything in it. I have nothing left, no clothes for kids, uniforms, toys and clothes for Christmas and all the household things,” she said.

Heather Rosen, who advocates on behalf of Traveller families, said the council was ignoring what the family was telling them about their safety on the site.

“Witnessing what is going on here and not be able to get any help for this family is devastating. It is morally indefensible. There is nowhere to turn, no one out there to help,” Ms Rosen said.

“When people’s houses were flooded last year they were put up in hotels and their needs looked after until the dangers passed for each of them — why is so little thought of this family that they can be turned away like this as though their lives don’t matter?”