Five years after damning report into conditions at Spring Lane halting site, little has improved, Cork councillor says

In 2021, the Ombudsman for Children’s Office found children were living in filthy, overcrowded, rat-infested and unsafe conditions where raw sewage was visible

Artists impressions of the €18m housing regeneration plan for the Spring Lane Traveller halting site in Cork.

Five years after the children’s ombudsman criticised “shocking” and “deplorable” conditions at the Spring Lane halting site, little has improved, the chair of Cork City Council’s Traveller accommodation committee has said.

Following a weekend of unrest at the halting site, two men were hospitalised on Sunday with gunshot wounds, which have been described as not life-threatening.

The Garda helicopter and armed response unit attended the scene at the weekend, and regular Garda patrols have been seen intermittently at the halting site in the days since.

There has been a call for a special meeting of Cork City Council to discuss concerns about the weekend’s incidents.

Spring Lane was originally a gravel quarry before it was turned into a 10-bay halting site in 1989.

In 2021, the Ombudsman for Children’s Office criticised the council for what it deemed to be “shocking” and “deplorable” conditions for children living at Spring Lane.

In a damning report, it found children were living in filthy, overcrowded, rat-infested and unsafe conditions where raw sewage was visible.

The ombudsman found about 140 people were using toilets and washing facilities designed for 40 people.

Two years ago, the council drew up plans for an €18m regeneration of the site, including the redevelopment of the halting site and the construction of a new purpose-built group housing scheme in the adjacent Ellis Yard.

Those plans were subsequently approved by the council.

This week, a council spokesperson said the scheme had received Part 8 planning approval, and the council intended for the works to go to tender in the coming weeks.

However, the chairperson of the council’s Traveller accommodation committee, Green Party councillor Oliver Moran, said that information was new to him.

“It’s hard to point to anything that’s improved for residents compared to when the OCO [Ombudsman for Children’s Office] report came out,” he said.

“It’s still under a so-called ‘emergency protocol’, where day-to-day housing maintenance services from Cork City Council are restricted. There hasn’t been any practical progress to redevelop the site since planning was approved.” 

Mr Moran added most people would not believe the conditions in which people were living in the Spring Lane.

“Basic things like electricity, sanitation, shelter, you have people fighting over and competing for resources,” he said.

“It’s an entirely parallel world that most people wouldn’t believe could exist today in a city like Cork.

“The system is still in the same kind of paralysis that was identified then. It’s still a case that there’s no end in sight for residents living there, or a sense of movement towards something.”