Time to tackle council underspend on Traveller accommodation

Sinéad Gibney of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission wants their practical recommendations published today to empower local authorities to address identified gaps, failures, and inadequacies in their provision of culturally appropriate or Traveller-specific accommodation

The Travellers' Halting Site in Spring Lane, Cork, where families have been left to live in filthy, overcrowded, rat-infested, and unsafe living conditions. Photo: David Keane

Picture your newborn child sleeping through winter in a car with nowhere else to go. Or recovering from surgery with no running water or electricity. Imagine sending your child to play in severe pollution, next to waste facilities on vermin-infested sites. Or living with the constant threat of eviction.

In our country, these real experiences are an all-too-frequent reality for Travellers, and reflect a meagre record of Traveller-specific accommodation provision.