The success of the new £1.5 million Ballymurtagh Traveller Accommodation Complex at Shannon, Co Clare, will be critical to the success of the county's Traveller accommodation programme.
With six bays for mobile homes and two houses, it is one of the first to be built under new legislation to help Travellers and will provide for a large family grouping which has been on the roadside in Shannon for the past 14 years.
The county has had a troubled history resolving the issue of Traveller accommodation, but under the new Traveller Accommodation Act it has adopted an programme involving the expenditure of more than £10 million for 78 families indigenous to the area between now and 2004.
The legislation could help in finding a resolution to a contentious problem.
In Co Clare, Ennis will be the focus of the programme which involves consultation committees including Travellers and residents. The town will have six permanent sites and one transient site (for Travellers passing through). The north-Clare town of Ennistymon will be housing four distinct Traveller groupings in as many serviced sites/group housing schemes.
Ballymurtagh was the first and only site for Shannon and it got off to a bad start when four council officials were physically prevented from leaving the compound last week for almost an hour after a dispute arose. Under the plan, it was to be left under grass, but the Travellers wanted it tarmacked. Gardai at Shannon are now investigating the matter following a comp laint.
Mr Sean Hillery, chairman of the county council, who is from Shannon, said several meetings were held with Travellers and he was proud of what had been achieved. It was hurtful to have last week's disturbance. "Basically in Clare we are doing our best," he added. A Traveller spokesman at Shannon was unavailable for comment.
Meanwhile in Ennis, Travellers have been illegally parked at various points following the closure of the only serviced halting site, known as Drumcliffe, in February 1997.
The site was closed on foot of a High Court order, due to residents' objections to the arguments some of the families there were having.
The closure was a huge setback for the council and has led to Traveller caravans being parked at various points around the town, including, at one stage, the entrance to the GAA's Cusack Park, at the council's offices and outside the UDC offices.
Ms Helen McDonagh has lived on the Drumbiggil Road since the Drumcliffe closure. Her father and nephew also live in the caravan, and she said there was little privacy, no running water or sanitary facilities and no rubbish collection service. A solid fuel stove provides heat and a generator gives electricity, but is so heavy on petrol it is only used in the evenings.
There have been no problems with the residents in the area, she said, but they were looking for a house from the council.
Yesterday she was due in the local District Court for being illegally parked, but the local judge has consistently refused to hear evidence from the UDC in such cases because there are no serviced sites available.
Mr Ger Dollard, acting assistant county manager, said that since Drumcliffe the council had met challenges from residents by trying to provide an alternative site. He said all parties would have to play a positive role. "Clare County Council cannot solve all the problems. Traveller accommodation is a community problem." he said.
The most recent case facing the council concerns an emergency halting-site proposal for the Gort road. Work stopped after residents obtained an injunction. The High Court case, which involves the board of management of a special-needs school, St Claire's, is due to be heard next month. Already, the proposal has been allegedly linked with a tyre-slashing incident affecting the cars belonging to the county manager and another official.
Ms McDonagh has sworn an affidavit and is due to appear to give a Traveller perspective on the issue. She said the site, with 13 bays, would accommodate too many people and there would be friction because different Traveller families would be living next to each other in the cramped conditions.
Clan-based halting sites were the only ones that would work for Travellers. "They want their own privacy with their own families," she said.