The organisers of a protest rally planned for Athlone on Sunday over the sentencing of Mayo farmer Pádraig Nally for manslaughter have deferred the event but say they may still hold a rally at a later date to highlight certain issues.
A provisional date for the deferred event has been set, but confirmation of this will depend on a meeting which an Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) delegation is due to have with Minister for Justice Michael McDowell, according to James Waldron, a member of the Pádraig Nally Support Group.
Any such event would be held only after Nally's application for leave to appeal his six-year sentence, which is to be heard on December 5th, he said. The three national Traveller organisations - Pavee Point Travellers' Centre, the National Traveller Women's Forum and the Irish Traveller Movement - welcomed the decision to defer the planned protest rally.
"We feel, in the current climate of racism and widespread anti-Traveller sentiment being expressed in the media and by negative sentiments being voiced by political leaders on the airwaves, that the march would only serve to further fuel racism against Travellers", the three organisations said in a statement.
Mr Waldron, a neighbour of Nally's and a member of the GAA's Mayo county board, said the decision to defer the event was taken for four reasons, after a long discussion among committee members on Wednesday night.
"The four reasons are that there has been a perception that it had developed into an anti-Traveller protest and this was never the intention of the group," Mr Waldron said.
The second reason was "in the interests of public safety, as we felt we wouldn't have enough stewards for the event", and the third was "to give an opportunity for a delegation to meet the Minister for Justice to discuss policing and citizens' rights to protect themselves and their property", he said.
The fourth reason was to allow Nally's application for an appeal to be heard, he said. Michael Biggins, another member of the Nally support group and chairman of the IFA's Mayo branch, will be among a delegation that will be meeting the Minister for Justice shortly, Mr Waldron said.
"It may be that the Minister may be able to allay some of the fears which have been raised, and the issues of the right to protect people and property, and to have more gardaí," Mr Waldron said. "However, the big concern for us was this perception that the rally was anti-Traveller."
Mr Waldron said that comments made on RTÉ radio's Liveline by Fine Gael MEP Jim Higgins in relation to crime and the alleged involvement of the Travelling community had no bearing on the committee's decision. Nor had they been influenced by the comment by Bishop of Killaloe, Dr Willie Walsh, who said he would be happier if the event was not staged.
He said that contact had been made with the Garda superintendent in Athlone, Co Westmeath - the planned venue for the rally on Sunday - and "slight concerns" had been raised in relation to the numbers attending.
However, the Garda had not requested that the rally be called off, he said. The Garda Press Office said everyone had a constitutional right to protest and its one concern would be related to public order and safety issues.
