Travellers find themselves stuck between a rock and a hard place
Travellers at Cúl Trá in Salthill are due to vacate the halting site they are living in by the end of next year. But they don’t want to leave, and in any event, they will have nowhere to go.
Galway Diocese, which owns the land, has issued a reminder to the leaseholder, Galway City Council, that the site must be returned with vacant possession by December 31, 2022.
But, according to correspondence obtained by Galway City Tribune, the local authority has said that the alternative accommodation it is building to relocate the families will not be completed by then – due to construction delays associated with Covid-19 lockdown.
And even if the alternative accommodation arrangements were completed by the deadline, Traveller families living at the site have told the local authority they do not want to move from Cúl Trá.
In the summer of 2017, the City Council attempted to evict the families from the halting site, which sparked protests from Galway Traveller Movement, the families and allies.
The halting site opened in 1996 for six families following a campaign by former Bishop of Galway, the late Eamon Casey.
The Galway Diocese donated the site to the City Council for Travellers on a 25-year lease signed by Bishop Casey’s secretary and successor, Bishop James McLoughlin.
Fears about overcrowding at the site that emerged in recent years remain. The Acting Director of Services for Housing, Dermot Mahon, has told the Galway Diocese that there are 13 families now living on site, including the six tenants and seven additional “younger family formations”. There should only be eight families on site.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.