150 Travellers mount protest at Ennis town council

Around 150 Travellers from throughout Ireland are picketing the offices of Ennis town council today in protest at new legislation allowing the Gardai to impound caravans parked illegally on public or private property.

The protest was organised after Gardai in the Co Clare town seized three caravans earlier this week.

The three families whose homes were confiscated have been staying with relatives and in bed and breakfast accommodation for the past few days. Representatives of the Travellers are due to meet Ennis town council later today to discuss the matter.

The Irish Council for Civil Liberties has condemned the garda actions in Ennis, saying the legislation which led to them is racist and prejudiced. Liam Herrick, the acting director fo the ICCL, said:

"When this act was introduced, the Government claimed that it was targeted at large-scale commercial settlements such as that at the Dodder last year. Now we have the proof that local authorities are going to use it to victimise individual families.

"What is most reprehensible is that the local authorities who themselves have failed to provide accommodation for these families are then prosecuting them and taking their caravans away."

Catherine Joyce of the Irish Traveller Movement said the decision to arrest families and impound their homes was disgraceful.

"In this particular case, these families are actually in the local accommodation programme of the urban district council so they’ve already been identified as in need of accommodation and the council have an obligation to provide for those families," she said.