The developer Mr Gerard Gannon has secured a High Court order requiring a Traveller couple and their eight young children to leave lands owned by Mr Gannon near Swords, Co Dublin.
In an appeal to Mr Justice Kelly yesterday, Mr James Maguire, who represented himself, said he and his family, who include a child with disabilities and range in age from about one year to 17 years, have nowhere else to go.
He said Fingal County Council had told him it could not provide accommodation for the family and when they looked for "landlord accommodation", the council would stamp the words "Travellers" on the relevant forms which prevented them securing accommodation.
Mr Maguire also said that a Mr Jim Kenny, a representative of Mr Gannon, had told him that if Mr Maguire helped in having moved some 10 other caravans which had been on Mr Gannon's lands, then Mr Maguire and his family could remain there until they got a council house. Mr Maguire said the other caravans had moved but now he too had to go.
Mr Justice Kelly said he was sympathetic to the Maguires' plight but they had no entitlement to remain on the lands and the court could not provide them with alternative accommodation.
When Mr Maguire asked for time to allow him to try and find somewhere else for the family and to arrange to have their mobile home moved from the lands at Applewood Village, Swords, the judge asked Mr Paul Fogarty, for Mr Gannon, what was his attitude to a stay.
Mr Fogarty said his side would agree to give the Maguires some four to six weeks to make arrangements. Mr Justice Kelly said Mr Gannon was being generous and he would place a six week stay on the order.
Earlier, in applying for the order, Mr Fogarty said Mr Gannon owned lands at Applewood, near Swords, which were near to two national schools.
In an affidavit, Mr Gannon said local residents were unhappy with the Travellers being on the site. He added that the Travellers had dumped rubbish on the site.
In an affidavit, a solicitor for Mr Gannon said both Mr Gannon and Mr Kenny denied they had consented at any time to Mr Maguire remaining on the site.
Mr James Maguire said he had a wife and eight children and Fingal County Council had told him they could not provide him with accommodation.
They had nowhere to go and had a 32-foot long mobile home. When his wife had looked for landlord accommodation, the council stamped "Travellers" on the bottom of the forms.
"When the landlord looks at that, we have no chance of getting it," Mr Maguire told the judge. He handed a number of documents into the judge.
Mr Justice Kelly said that among the documents was a letter from a Garda superintendent stating that Mr Maguire and his family were living on the side of the road, near a school, on lands owned by Mr Gannon. The letter stated the family were "on the move" all the time, that the younger children had been attending a national school, that their situation was most unsatisfactory and it would be desirable if they were housed.
The judge said that also among the documents was a notice from Fingal County Council, dated January last, requiring the Maguires to remove a temporary dwelling close to Lissenhall Halting Site, Swords, because it was causing a nuisance to residents of a housing estate located a mile away.
The judge told Mr Maguire that none of the documents which he had presented to the court gave the family an entitlement to remain on Mr Gannon's lands. In those circumstances, he must make the order sought.