Traveller groups hope report proves 'an important step for real change'

The Ombudsman for Children's Office investigation was triggered by a complaint from the families, the Traveller Visibility Group and the Cork Traveller Women’s Network

The Ombudsman for Children's Office report highlighted a string of issues at the Spring Lane site on the northside of Cork City. Photo Larry Cummins

The two Traveler rights groups whose complaint triggered an investigation into "deplorable" living conditions at the Spring Lane halting site in Cork City have welcomed the report and said they hoped it would prove "an important step for real change".

The report, published by the Ombudsman for Children's Office, highlighted a string of issues at the site on the northside of Cork City, incorporating the views of children living there and with input from Cork City Council. 

The OCO investigation was triggered by a complaint lodged with the ombudsman by the Traveller Visibility Group and the Cork Traveller Women’s Network, in collaboration with the families living at the site.

Both organisations said the report should point the way to significant improvements in the delivery of accommodation for the Travelling Community — not just in Cork but around the country. 

The groups pointed out that it was the OCO’s first report focusing on the lives of Traveller children and was a result of working with families over the course of three years, making it one of the largest complaints that the OCO has investigated and the first time it has dealt with a collective complaint from a number of families.

Read our new report, No End in Site, here:https://t.co/c4oH8uLJlS

We investigated the living conditions for children on a local authority halting site. pic.twitter.com/RDVKo6wjnl

— Ombudsman for Children (@OCO_ireland) May 24, 2021

Breda O’Donoghue, of the Traveller Visibility Group, said: “It is positive to see that the local authority has agreed to a detailed action plan with OCO to go about resolving the many issues that impact on children’s rights who are living on the site. 

"We look forward to working with the local authority, OCO, and the families involved during this process.”

Brigid Carmody, of the Cork Traveller Women’s Network, said: “We welcome the ongoing monitoring of OCO in implementing the action plan as this ensures real structural change for the families living on the site and accountable actions that must be delivered.”

The OCO report, entitled No End in Site: An investigation into the living conditions of children living on a local authority site, prompted a strong response from Sinéad Gibney, chief commissioner of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission.

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“The living conditions to which Traveller families are frequently abandoned, and the way they are being treated has again been exposed as nothing short of abhorrent," she said.

“I commend the Ombudsman for Children and his office for their investigation into this specific site, and highlighting the voices of the children directly affected and their recommendations.

“The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child sets out the right of every child to a standard of living adequate for the child's physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development.

“The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, through our legal casework, has similarly witnessed cases of severe deprivation caused by persistent discrimination and inertia towards the provision of Traveller accommodation. This deprivation is seen directly in the health and wellbeing of children and families.”