Inquiry called for in Cabra housing crux if "sweetheart" deal materialises

A public inquiry has been called for into the Cabra, Thurles  traveller housing crux, which has been described as the Tipperary version of the National Childrens Hospital.

A heated discussion at the monthly meeting of the Templemore Thurles Municipal District Council revealed little as the executive reiterated their commitment to not comment publicly on the matter until such time as a resolution has been determined.

However, members of the council were highly critical of the length of time it is taking to bring the matter to a conclusion and the absence of the Director of Services with responsibility for housing, Sinead Carr, did not help either - the issue had been tabled for discussion thanks to a Notice of Motion from Cllr David Doran, who has been very vocal on this subject from the very beginning.

"I am absolutely disgusted with this whole debacle and embarrassed by the lack of answers. I am very disappointed that the Director is not here to answer our questions - she should be here. This story is being followed by the local and national media and it is simply unacceptable that we do not have any news. This council is pandering to a minority and you do not have a mandate to do so. If there are any add-on's included in any deal to have these houses occupied, I will not accept it, and neither will the general public. If that happens, this council will have shown to have weakened its hand by granting special status," Cllr Doran said.

Cllr David Doran

The Independent councillor added that the €2.2m cost to the taxpayer is also outrageous - up from the much publicised cost of €1.7m, which according to the housing department did not include VAT. This means that each house has cost more than twice the cost of building council houses, and he also questioned who is paying for the mediation process and legal costs. 

"This is the Tipperary version of the National Childrens Hospital," Cllr Doran said.

Indepedent Councillor Jim Ryan was equally as scathing of the local authority in his comments and he placed a number of questions before the executive, seeking answers on the cost of the mediation process; if keys have already been handed out; why horses are being allowed to graze the estate; and if stables and land are to be provided at the bridge side of the road, as has been rumoured.

"Nobody in this room is anti-traveller, but people are now laughing at us, because we don't have answers to the questions they are asking," Cllr Ryan said, before stating that if any "sweetheart deals" are included in the settlement, he will be calling for an independent inquiry into the whole saga.

Cllr Jim Ryan

However, Cllr John Hogan had a slightly different view and said that the local authority has always treated people with different needs, in a different manner - the housing adaptation grants are a fine example of this, he said, and he added that travellers have special requirements as a result of the special recognition they enjoy as an ethnic minority.

"As a nation, we have a subconscious bias against travellers and every councillor in this room has gotten calls at some stage or another from people concerned when local authority houses come up for new tenants, to make sure that travellers are  not getting those houses. We all get these calls and I'm not afraid to admit it. These people are living on Cabra Bridge for 45 years and a normal solution will not solve it. We have to stand up to the general public if they are demanding questions, and let the process conclude. We have to do everything possible as a nation to try and solve the problems we have with travellers, including the likes of social isolation, which is far greater now than when I was a child growing up" Cllr Hogan said.

Cllr Seamus Hanafin pointed out that the initial plan was to house six houses at Cabra - that has to be the kernal of the situation, he said, and he added that the commitment to have the process concluded by the end of March, is unlikely now to be met.

Cllr Micheal Lowry said that the public representatives are taking the brunt of an executive decision and he too pointed to the fact that there are now 11 families at Cabra, while six are scheduled to be housed. "We try to do our best for the travelling community in this county and that is now being thrown back in our face. It's a farce," he said.

The sentiment of the meeting is to be returned to the Director of Services immediately.