Protest over Traveller site like ‘Alabama in the 1950s’

Equality Minister Aodhán Ó Ríordáin has criticised people protesting against emergency accommodation for Traveller families caught up in the Carrickmines blaze, saying their views “remind me of Alabama in the 1950s”.

The Labour TD for Dublin North-Central made the remark amid an ongoing standoff between residents of Rockville Drive in Dublin and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council.

Since Wednesday, a group of people living in the area has blocked workers from accessing a site where the local authority planned to build emergency accommodation for families affected by last Saturday’s tragedy at a State-backed halting site, which saw 10 people — including six-month-old Mary Connors — burn to death.