Cork Travellers face eviction today

by Angus McHennessy Wed May 21, 2003 12:35

The travelers have requested support from settled people and others. You can help by:
Going to the site. It is in Mahon, go to the end of the Skehard Road, turn right then right again, go past the building works until yo come to a turning in on your left. You'll probably see caravans on the road outside.

Also, bearing in mind this is just the latest in a long line of similar crap that Travellers are having to deal with you could try contacting some or all of the following:
Joe Gavin, City Manager, City Hall (021)4966222
The Housing Board - responsible for providing accomodation in the city. Ask 'em where the travellers are supposed to go. (021) 4966222 and ask for the extension
Mahon Gardai - Sgt McPolin - Ask him why they decided to go in at 7am and anything else you can think of
Cork City of Culture office - sorry, can't find the details, the office is in Carbery House on South Mall.
Don't knock the people in the office, they're doing a good job but to certain sectors of our good city culture seems to involve cleaning the place up in a particularly sinister fashion. The words Cleansing and Ethnic spring to mind. Also Construction, and Economic Growth and Control. Anyone or anything that doesn't fit into this neat little picture just seems to have to disappear. We need to make a lot of noise about this.

by Eoghan W. Wed May 21, 2003 13:29 Cork

Today's evictions occurred at an official halting site - there are, as far as I know, just 3 permanent sites in the city and no transient sites. The city council say they have no plans to create new permanent halting sites but are claiming to have a transient halting site in the pipeline for 2004.
The site at Mahon/Ballinure has 14 bays but a policy of harrassment and shutdown at unofficial sites have ensured that 20 or more caravans at this site has become the norm. Guards came with 11 eviction notices this morning - 15 guards at 7am - and proceeded to impound the caravan of one woman who had determined that she did not want to leave. Seeing this, the other eviction targets began slowly packing up and moving out.They could not risk losing their homes and delayed things as best they could in the hope of getting more support, cameras, journalists down there.
Now just one caravan remains of the 11 and the woman responsible for it wishes to have it remain there and welcomes any support. None of the families pushed out has somewhere they can move to and there are a large number of kids involved.
Todays incident is another in a cluster of recent evictions, parking tickets and court summonses. Clearly, the pressure is on to have Cork cleared of that and those which don't fit the picture we intend to present in glossy brochures trumpeting our elevation to Capital of Europe for a year. Culture, my elbow, the country only has one indigenous minority and evidently their culture doesn't satisfy all the criteria for 2005.
These incidents must be particularly distressing to city manager Joe Gavin who had to live through a similar clean-out during his time as Galway city manager. Anyone with details, please post them here. I'll post more details soon, along with contact details of people and groups involved in resisting and monitoring this travellers-out-of-Cork push.

by Joe Collins - None Wed May 21, 2003 14:29 Cork

The families evicted today did not even have the benefit of camera evidence of the removal of their homes. Two cameramen who arrived at the scene were kept well back by Gardai who clearly wanted to do their work away from the public gaze. A TV camera crew arrived later and were treated in the same way.

by pat c Wed May 21, 2003 15:09

I hope the camera crew & photographers will complain about this.

Joe
Seeing as you witnessed it, consider making a complaint to the

Garda Complaints Board
Block 1
ILC
Dublin 1
tel (01) 8728666

Also to the:

Assistant Commissioner for the Southern Region
Asst Cmmr Adrian Culligan
Garda HQ
Anglesea St
Cork City
Tel (021) 4522008

by Angus Wed May 21, 2003 21:26

There's more to this story that relates very closely to a struggle over on the other side of the city in the Glen Valley.
The traveller site is in an old walled garden in the middle of the massive and monstrous Mahonpoint development. I understand that the land for this was sold by Cork City Council to the developer. There was some scandal about this at the time. The developers name is O'Callaghan Properties, 21 Lavitts Quay Cork City, 021 4275008 should you wish to talk to them and by an extraordinary coincidence the security firm that they use - MCM Security, 40 Leitrim St St, Cork City , Tel. 4503222. The man to talk to is Sean McNamara. Is the same firm that are helping evict these travellers and no doubt others. Makes you think = Eh. Could this be another case of people and the environment being pushed aside so some people can make a profit.
This sort of thing happens because of complacency and because some people think they're unaccountable. Let's bring them to account. If you can get out to the site early, like 7am tomorrow please do. It means a lot

by Joe Collins Thu May 22, 2003 00:16 Cork

I heard a Traveller woman from the Mahon site interviewed by Neil Prendiville on 96FM today. It sounded like she was the woman whose trailer was taken away from her. Our brilliant Mr. Prendiville lowered himself today, even by his standards, by turning this human rights issue into an attack on the woman. What a champion of free speech he is. Is there any way we can challenge the freedom of radio stations to broadcast this muck? Like do they have to re-apply for their broadcasting licence in a way that allows the public to have a say?
By the way, he (Prendiville) stated on air, as if it was fact, that Owen O'Callaghan Properties was bribing Travellers on the Mahon site to leave, so that the developers can build a bigger car park.
One more thing. The Examiner today printed a comment from a Corporation official called Damien O Mahony. He justified the evictions from the Mahon site on the grounds of health and safety. I suppose that the highly paid management team of the Housing Office of the Corporation (Director of Housing Services Steven Kearney earns about €2000 a week) want us to accept that living on the roadside offers Travellers a healthier and safer lifestyle.

by JimBob Thu May 22, 2003 11:33

It's time the people of Cork took on the UTV owned monopoly of 96FM and its 'sister' stations 103FM Mallow and 103FM Bandon. Is there any other county in Ireland where three radio stations are owned by the same consortium?

The alternative - Red FM is no better with it's American "Shock Jock" Charlie Wolfe who does his best to make Prendiville look intelligent and benign.

Whatever about its shortcomings - and it had a few- at least RTE Radio Cork had a decent news service with proper reporters and current affairs presenters. But of course RTE Radio Cork was an anachronism - a local radio station owned by the national state broadcaster! That's why the powers that be decided it must be shut down.

by Mike - none Sun Aug 08, 2004 21:24 qdofjshjh at oooo dot net cork city 1228727827

I hope the travellers dont get kicked out of cork and in my opinion the gardai and the security frim (mcm) are doing a bang up job.

by Adfolf Hitler, - Socialist Democratics Sat Oct 08, 2005 07:13 Reichstag, Berlin, GERMANY None

Hitler had the right idea! Obilerate the Bastards - every last one!