Madam, - I recently came across Bord Fáilte guidelines on facilities on caravan parks - the caravan parks visited by holidaymakers for two weeks in Summer. Bord Fáilte requires that three-star caravan parks have a café or restaurant either on the park or within a kilometre of the park. Outdoor facilities such as par-three golf, table-tennis, swimming pool, volleyball, a model farm, etc. must be available and there must be a range of indoor recreational facilities, heated washrooms, a public telephone and food supplies available.
All caravans and the park itself must be kept to a very high standard. Even the one-star category requires public telephones, first-aid facilities, a laundry room with ironing board, adequate public lighting, attractive landscaping, a play area for children, and suitable facilities for people with disabilities. All of this is as it should be.
However, visit the vast majority of Traveller halting sites around the country and see what they are like. They are invariably overcrowded and have dreadful facilities. They are normally situated near the town dump, or near a bypass or motorway. Amenities are usually limited to a cold-water tap, a vandal-proof metal container in which people can wash and cook (if they are lucky) and perhaps a hard surface - as opposed to a rough stone surface.
But Traveller families have to live on these sites permanently, not just for a couple of weeks.
I propose that local authorities should compulsorily purchase 20 one-star caravan parks around the country and allow them to be occupied by Travellers. The Traveller accommodation crisis would be almost eradicated overnight and if Travellers themselves felt they were being treated with a degree of respect by the Government and local authorities, many of the problems associated by the settled community with the Traveller way of life might be altered forever. - Yours, etc.,
KEVIN BROPHY, Chairman, Irish Traveller Movement Legal Unit, Eustace Street, Dublin 2.