NEWSFLASH! NAAS, 18 August 2000: 11.30am by Brian Byrne. Naas UDC has been granted a High Court injunction against a number of travelling families who are illegally parked on the council's land at Caragh Road. Under the terms of the injunction, obtained by town clerk Declan Kirrane, the travellers have until tomorrow evening to vacate the site. Otherwise the council will go to court again on Wednesday to seek committal orders. The High Court application was necessary because the council was unable to get a special sitting of the Circuit Court during the summer recess. UDC goes to High Court today against travellers NAAS, 18 August 2000: 8.30am by Brian Byrne. Naas UDC goes to the High Court today to seek an injunction against the travelling families who have illegally parked on their land at the Caragh Road (above). This follows a failure to get a private sitting of the Circuit Court because of the August holidays. “We were told the earliest sitting we could use would be around the 10th of September,” Naas town clerk Declan Kirrane told KNN yesterday. “This was unacceptable to us.” The travellers have wrecked pitches and the all-weather running track owned by the Naas Sports Group, and stopped the building work on the new Sports Centre. John F Dunne (right) of the Naas Sports Group told KNN this week that damage runs into 'many thousands' of pounds, and he believes much of the current facility will have to be completely dug up and resodded before it is safe to let youngsters play on it. A security company hired by the UDC had to be replaced by a new one after reported intimidation of its members. Earlier this week, local residents called for the Army to be used to police the situation, amid fears that the second security company might be forced to leave. They also want the national problem of illegal traveller incursions to be addressed as a priority by the Dail when it resumes. (Previous KNN coverage of the invading travellers situation is here.) (Homecoming picture and word coverage is also available here)

NEWSFLASH! NAAS, 17 August 2000: 4.30pm by Brian Byrne. Naas UDC is going to the High Court tomorrow to get an injunction against the travellers who have illegally invaded their land at Caragh Road. The High Court bid became necessary when it was made clear to officials of the UDC that they wouldn't get a Circuit Court hearing until at least the second week in September. Residents call for Army 'protection' from invading travellers NAAS, 17 August 2000: 8.30am by Brian Byrne. Desperate Caragh Road residents have appealed for the Army to be called in to man the security barricade erected by Naas UDC at the scene of the latest mass traveller incursion in Naas. They say they are ‘living in fear’ of people who ‘have no respect for the neighbourhood’ and who have already destroyed the Caragh Road playing fields and forced the retirement of one security company by ‘sustained intimidation’. And they have expressed their ‘astonishment’ at reports that a local Circuit Judge has refused to sit to hear an application for an injunction by Naas UDC as the court is in recess for the holidays. “This is an URGENT matter where the rigours of the law must be seen to represent the community,” says Alan Hore (right), chairman of the Resident’s Association of Caragh Court, Caragh Green & Caragh Meadows. “Our fear is that the convoy in Kill may move onto the fields and more are en-route from Knock. They will force their way into the playing fields in the next few days unless something is done now. This is not something that can wait until someone finishes his or her holiday.” In a letter delivered today to Naas town officials, local representatives, and garda authorities, Mr Hore asks how long will it be before the current security firm is forced off the site, and he claims that the builder of the £1.4m Sports Complex (left) - where work has been suspended - has been asked for money for the travellers to move on. “What more evidence is needed to make this a matter of top priority?” he asks. “How long more do we have to wait? It is three weeks since they moved in. They have publicly stated that they are going to wait for the injunction before they move unless they are paid to leave. This is undermining the law. If the sitting is not till September we will have wait a further three to four weeks. This is unacceptable.” Mr Hore, on behalf of his members, also demands that the Judiciary and the Government give the matter of such illegal incursions priority at the next sitting of the Dail, and he is critical of local TD Alan Dukes for not using the opportunity to highlight the matter on this week’s ‘Questions & Answers’. “He mentioned the fact that travellers had moved onto the Naas playing fields. When asked by Vincent Browne if he was in favour of a halting site in Naas, he stated he was in agreement. This was most unhelpful and NOT the issue in hand. The issue in hand is that these travellers are not local travellers looking for housing or a halting site. They are travelling traders moving across the county en masse causing mayhem where ever they go. This was a key point and a key opportunity to deal with this problem and the opportunity was missed.” Mr Hore is demanding that a special sitting of the Circuit Court is held this week, and if necessary that the Army be brought in to make sure no further invasions of the site take place. “After all they are employed to protect the banks, why can’t they be employed to protect the public? We want protection and we want it NOW!” (Previous KNN coverage of the invading travellers situation is here.) (Homecoming picture and word coverage is also available here)

Damage to sports facilities 'runs into thousands' NAAS, 16 August 2000: 11.30am by Brian Byrne. The secretary of the Naas Sports Group hit out this morning at the 'politically correct' attitudes the settled community has to take with travellers, and says it's time to 'bite the bullet' in relation to dealing with illegal traveller incursions. John F Dunne was speaking as attempts to clear the remaining 30 or so travelling families from the Caragh Road Sports Grounds were being taken by Naas UDC. Efforts that come too late to save the hockey pitches and the athletics track from depradations which have left them unusable for the rest of the season. "Maybe this latest incident will wake people up and finally come to grips with the situation," he told KNN. "We've all had to be very careful when even mentioning words like 'traveller' and others associated with them. But now we have to bite the bullet." The travellers, the first of whom came nearly three weeks ago, have parked their caravans on the athletics area and on the hockey pitches and there are reports of them racing cars and vans around the all-weather track. Building on the new £1.4m Sports Centre has also been suspended, and the contractor is facing serious contractual and financial implications, as well as probably having to fumigate the partly constructed building which has also been used as a toilet area by some of the travellers. This morning, employees of the second security company to be hired by Naas UDC on the site, Norse Security from Athy, said that no caravans were being allowed in since yesterday morning. But there was no sign of any leaving, either. A previous security company, Secureway, left the site this week amid reports of threats being made against them. As to who's going to pay for the damage to the sports facilities, that's something John Dunne says they can't even think about until the property is clear and they can see the extent of the ruination. "But we're talking many thousands, and no insurance is going to pay for it," he says. "We've been using the property for 15 years in the most primitive conditions and we've kept it right ... now look at it ... if anyone from Naas came up and did what these people did, they'd be in jail." He noted that the hockey season only started last week and now the local players have had to abandon it, and the athletics club is halfway through its season, but now they can't use the track. "I don't know what's going to be necessary to make the whole place sanitary again, but I think we're going to have to dig the whole place up and resod it before we let the youngsters back on it again." (Homecoming picture and word coverage is also available here)

Gardai escort UDC man taking traveller names NAAS, 11 August 2000: 12.30pm by Trish Whelan & Brian Byrne. A Naas UDC representative this morning had a garda escort while he took the names of travellers illegally camped on council land at Caragh Road. The move was in advance of serving a motion to quit on the travellers, who arrived on the site over the last two weeks. The council yesterday put a substantial gate on the site and hired a security firm to stop any other travellers going into the field, which is earmarked for affordable and social housing. The incursion by up to 100 families has also stopped work on the £1.4 million new Sports Centre being built further down the field, close to the canal (see yesterday's story on KNN) and which has serious financial implications for the construction company, Rydell Ltd. Meanwhile, there appears to be some confusion over just what measures a local authority can take to deal with an 'invasion' like that on the Caragh Road. KNN understands that it was intended to bar any traveller vehicles from re-entering the site unless they took out a caravan, but other information suggests that for safety reasons, this cannot be done. "We legally can't stop them from driving in and out to their homes, even if they are parked here illegally," a spokesman with much experience in these matters told us this morning. "And we can't barricade them in, as in the event of an emergency, fire or ambulance vehicles must be able to get in without hindrance. This also applies to privately owned property." Once all the names are listed this morning, a court order will be sought to move those named. This process is somewhat more difficult in August when regular courts are in recess, so it may be necessary for the UDC to organise a private sitting with a judge. The names of individual travellers on the site had to be taken because while the UDC had already noted the registration numbers of all vehicles on the site, according to a UDC man on the site it is common that the registered owner is not the person driving the vehicle. This morning, Cllr Charlie Byrne (above) warned that if tough action wasn't taken in this instance, following the hiring of a security firm, Naas UDC 'would be the laughing stock' of the country. "We're not taking these measures for the comfort and safety of the travellers," he said. "We need to make life more difficult for them." (KNN's previous coverage of this issue is here.)

Naas UDC barricades site of traveller invasion NAAS, 10 August 2000: 2pm by Brian Byrne and Trish Whelan. Naas UDC workmen today began work erecting a barrier across the gate leading to Naas Sports Centre, used by up to 100 travellers who have parked their caravans on land belonging to Naas UDC over the past week. The Council has also employed security specialists, Securway Ltd, who will be on duty 24 hours a day at the barrier. Town engineer Tom Cuddy explained they would be restricting access onto the site and the barrier will be a permanent fixture. A spokesperson for Securway Ltd said that vehicles will be allowed back onto the site only if they agree to tow a caravan out - otherwise they will be locked out, and will have to park their vans on the road. Meanwhile UDC Cllr Charlie Byrne (above), chairman of the Naas UDC/Garda Liason Committee, has fired a broadside at local Gardaí and the UDC for allowing the situation develop as far as it had. He asked why the travellers seemed to be exempt from the rigours of the law. “Why haven’t the Gardaí acted here like they did in Castletown last week, where Gardaí and customs officers checked throughout the site for tax, insurance and marked diesel?” In Castletown, Gardaí seized four jeeps which were using agricultural diesel. Charlie Byrne said the law seemed to be applied differently between travellers and ordinary citizens. He asked who is going to compensate the various groups building the £1.4m Sports Centre since work stopped due to the incursion. John Ryan, MD of Rydell Construction Ltd building the new Sports Centre, believes the ‘whole place will have to be power hosed and fumigated’ before work resumes as the part-built building is being used as a toilet by the travellers. “It’s in a desperate state,” he said. Mr Ryan said the situation as far as the project is concerned is 'catastrophic' and at the moment he sees the completion of the contract put back by up to eight weeks because of the invasion. "This is costing us big money," he told KNN this afternoon. "In addition to having our own builders off the site, it is also affecting our suppliers who were scheduled to have materials delivered around now. It will also cause us problems with other contracts which were due to be started by us at the end of this one." Mr Ryan also noted that there is a lot of blockwork to be done on the building and it is important to get this completed during relatively dry summer weather. "The knock-on effects are absolutely horrific." He added that he felt very sorry for the Sports Complex promoters like John Dunne who have worked so hard to get this project off the ground. This morning KNN was advised by the security people not to walk across to the building site with a camera, as it might ‘inflame the situation’. Cllr Byrne said it was a serious thing when an urban councillor and the press weren’t allowed to walk across urban council property without warnings of danger. He said the cost of security is a new cost to the Council as it was not included in the Book of Estimates. However the UDC had included a figure for getting court injunctions. He said councillors had not been told how much it had cost to erect barriers on other sites in the town to prevent travellers from getting in. These had included the main UDC car park, the car park at the back of the Town Hall, at the old railway bridge at Millbrook and a line of bollards on the Dublin Road. But he said it was good to see the UDC finally taking action on the Caragh Road site. While the majority of travellers in Castletown (Celbridge) were described as ‘mobile merchants from England’, many of those on the Caragh Road have Irish registrations, indicating they have bases in Cork, Limerick, Laois, Carlow and Longford. Main Rover, Land Rover and Volvo dealers, Kildare town. Phone 045 521203; Fax 045 521785. See our selection here. And read Brian Byrne's review of the new Rover 75.

UDC is to take court action against travellers NAAS, 8 August 2000: 10.30am by Trish Whelan. Naas UDC is to seek a court injunction to have the estimated 100 traveller families moved from their lands at the Caragh Road (above). Town clerk Declan Kirrane (right) said UDC staff had served a preliminary notice on the travellers last week informing them that they were trespassing on private land and requesting them to vacate the property within 24 hours. But Mr Kirrane said the only way to deal with the problem is to seek a court injunction to have them moved on. He said the circuit court is not in session at present but the UDC ‘will see what we can do’ to get an injunction. Mr Kirrane also said it was not 'physically feasible or desirable' to fence off every piece of green areas around the town. "These people have the equipment to bulldoze things down," he said. Local residents are seeking an ‘emergency’ meeting with local authorities, the gardai and elected representatives to discuss ‘extraordinary measures’ they say are necessary to deal with the problem (see story below). Meantime, the Caragh Road Sports Ground, which was used as an access point by the first group of travellers almost two weeks ago, has built earth barricades along the Caragh Road. The latest group of travellers simply used the gate into the field, where the new Sports Centre is currently being built. Main Rover, Land Rover and Volvo dealers, Kildare town. Phone 045 521203; Fax 045 521785. See our selection here. And read Brian Byrne's review of the new Rover 75.

Residents call for 'emergency' meeting on Caragh Road travellers NAAS, 8 August 2000: 8.30am by Brian Byrne. Residents of the Caragh Court area of Naas (above) are seeking an ‘emergency’ meeting with both local authorities, the gardai and elected representatives to discuss ‘extraordinary measures’ they say are necessary to deal with the problem of traveller invasions of private and public property. This follows the arrival of an estimated 100 caravans onto Naas UDC land opposite their estate (below). They say they are ‘deeply sickened and in fear’ as the caravan numbers ‘grow by the day’. In a letter to town clerk Declan Kirrane, the residents of Resident’s association of Caragh Court, Caragh Green and Caragh Meadows say they had repeatedly warned the UDC of their fears that such an incursion would take place, and had asked on numerous occasions for preventative measures to be taken. “We experienced a similar problem last year in Parc na nOg that caused a great deal of anxiety and unrest,” says association chairman Alan V Hore. “This is not a travellers issue, it is simply the fact that 100 caravans are allowed to illegally park in front of our estate.. We genuinely feel that we are the poor relation in this town ... we have no adequate access to the town of Naas and we are surrounded by Naas UDC land which has regularly been occupied and is a target for travelling convoys in mass over recent years.” According to Mr Hore, the latest invasion has caused sports events to be cancelled, the fields involved are strewn with rubbish, and a local resident was bitten by a traveller’s dog. “There is evidence that the present sports ground ‘lock-ups’ have been broken into and used as toilets,” he told KNN. Mr Hore also says the residents feel ‘let down’ by the response of Naas Garda Station to their problems, and wants local authorities and gardai to have a contingency plan ‘with teeth’ to deal with such events. “The authorities must assure our community that they are doing all they can to deal with this problem ... it is the duty of our elected representatives both at local and national levels to ensure that this type of invasion on a small community does not happen in the future. We cannot sit back and see a community intimidated by such a convoy.” Another local resident, Ray Butler, contacted KNN to say that they cannot get any information from either the gardai or the council in relation to the Caragh Road invasion. “As law abiding citizens, we seem to be treated with complete disregard by those who supposedly represent us,” he said. The latest incursion began last Thursday week and is just one of many such ‘events’ which have taken place in many parts of Kildare over the last year. This past weekend, the situation in Celbridge made national news on both press (left) and radio, but local people in Naas, Newbridge, Robertstown, Leixlip, Kilcullen and several other areas are all too well aware of the effects of what Emmet Stagg TD last week called ‘lawlessness’ by bands of mobile merchants. Garda leaders in Kildare last week promised an Action Plan would be immediately implemented, involving ‘other agencies’ where appropriate, to deal with the situation. Main Rover, Land Rover and Volvo dealers, Kildare town. Phone 045 521203; Fax 045 521785. See our selection here. And read Brian Byrne's review of the new Rover 75.

Gardai to undertake 'major plan of action' against mobile merchants NAAS, 2 August 2000: 1.30pm by Brian Byrne. A major plan of action is to be undertaken by Garda authorities immediately to deal with lawlessness by mobile merchants in Celbridge and throughout County Kildare. This follows a meeting this morning between Deputy Emmet Stagg and Chief Superintendent Sean Feely of the Carlow/Kildare Division along with Superintendent Pat Mangan at Divisional Headquarters in Naas. The plan to deal with the problem will include calling in ‘other agencies’ where necessary, and difficulties where local gardai do not have the resources to deal with the problem will be dealt with by providing whatever forces are necessary. “The garda authorities were acutely aware of the problem,” Deputy Stagg told KNN this afternoon, emphasising again that he didn’t consider this a ‘traveller issue’ but one relating to lawless mobile merchants. Deputy Stagg and fellow Cllr Senan Griffin had discussed the issue at Monday’s meeting of Kildare County Council. In that debate (see below) Deputy Stagg had maintained that existing legislation, if enforced, could solve the situation and that no new legislation was required. He said he was very satisfied with the outcome of this morning’s meeting. Main Rover, Land Rover and Volvo dealers, Kildare town. Phone 045 521203; Fax 045 521785. See our selection here. And read Brian Byrne's review of the new Rover 75.

Call for gardai to 'enforce law' in travellers 'invasions' CELBRIDGE, 2 August 2000: 8.30am by Brian Byrne & Trish Whelan. The chief superintendent of the Carlow/Kildare Garda Division is to be asked to ensure gardai take ‘urgent and effective’ action against travellers who have left Celbridge resembling ‘a town awaiting an invasion’. Deputy Emmett Stagg (right) says the destruction of private and public property in the town by ‘mobile merchants’ and their families is ‘intolerable’ and he claims that gardai have failed to protect the rights of citizens or to protect public and private property from ‘well-orchestrated attacks’. He also says that extortion has been ‘openly practised’ by these people, with residents and others being the subject of demands for large amounts of money to end their ‘invasions’ and stop destruction of property. "This happening under the gardai's noses, by people with their business mobile phone numbers displayed on their vehicles". Deputy Stagg was responding to a call in Kildare County Council last Monday by Cllr Senan Griffin (left) that new legislation be enacted similar to that used in Britain, where no more than three caravans can travel in convoy, to deal with a situation that was ‘out of control’. He described it as a 'huge problem causing grief to a lot of people' and it was being carried out by people with high mobility who are non-indigenous caravan owners, moving from one part of the country to another'. "The majority are from outside this county, from the North of Ireland and from England," he said. "They have been illegally entering private and public property and creating huge problems for people financially. Some of these organisations cannot afford to be spending huge amounts of money on legal action." Cllr Griffin said he wanted the ministers for the environment and justice to bring forward legislation similar to that in England. "I want it made impossible for groups of 80 to 90 caravans to drive into any property. In Celbridge, 86 were in a field this week. That's 400 people, and the hygiene problems alone must be very significant." Cllr Griffin noted that the county council itself had been 'dragged' into having to go to the courts to have such people moved on. "We have asked people to move on up to 12 times in a year, which cost us £50,000, which could have been put to better purposes. The gardai know these people own their own homes in various places around the country." Cllr Tony Lawlor said 'these migrants' knew that it cost £5,000 to get a court injunction. "They look for less than that from the owner to move on. It's a type of blackmail. We've had them on a regular basis in Kill and have almost become prisoners in our own town, having to erect banks to keep them out." Deputy Stagg says no new legislation is needed, that ‘criminal damage, extracting money under threat, and using untaxed vehicles’ are all in the area of law that is enforceable by the gardai. “It is nonsense to suggest, as has been done by some garda authorities, that it is a civil matter and not their concern,” he said in a statement yesterday. “There are not two sets of laws operating in this state, but there ARE two standards being applied to the enforcement of the laws. In Celbridge, no effective action has been taken by gardai to bring the culprits to task or to take any action to put an end to the siege of Celbridge by this lawless band.” Deputy Stagg says the recent damage done can most clearly be seen at the new St Woolston’s School, where litter and human waste abound and other damages run into ‘tens of thousands of pounds’. “If local youths were to attack the new school at St Woolston’s and damage it and the grounds to the extent I have witnessed, the gardai would be swift and effective in their response,” he said. “I presume the local gardai are acting on orders from their superiors. I am therefore seeking an urgent meeting with Chief Superintendent Sean Feely to request urgent and effective action by the gardai against this lawlessness.” In his statement, Deputy Stagg makes a clear distinction between the activities of these ‘mobile merchants’ and travellers indigenous to Kildare or legitimately passing through Kildare. He is chairperson of the Travellers Settlement Committee of Kildare County Council. On Monday, the council signed a £1.4 million contract for the redevelopment of the Blacklion Halting Site at Maynooth. The project will result in eight four-bedroom houses and three halting bays. [ED: The Celbridge problem is simply a reflection of similar ‘invasions’ and damage being perpetrated by travellers throughout Kildare, notably in Naas, Robertstown (above), Newbridge, the Curragh, Kilcullen and Leixlip. See KNN’s previous coverage here.] Main Rover, Land Rover and Volvo dealers, Kildare town. Phone 045 521203; Fax 045 521785. See our selection here. And read Brian Byrne's review of the new Rover 75.

'Impound vehicles' call on latest travellers' incursion NAAS, 2 August 2000: by Trish Whelan. Naas Cllr Willie Callaghan has hit out hard at last week’s invasion by travellers on UDC land at the Caragh Road (above). A large number of caravans and other vehicles were brought onto the site by travellers, some of whom have been recognised by local people as having been among those who illegally parked on Pairc na nOg in a previous incursion. Cllr Callaghan says if they are the same people they should be pursued immediately for the £11,000 in legal and clean up costs incurred by the Council after the Pairc na nOg invasion. “If that means impounding their vehicles to pay off the debt, which the courts gave us permission to follow, I’d have no problems with that kind of action,” he told KNN. “Those people caused an awful lot of damage the last time. I also heard that they tried to go back onto the Pairc na nOg site on Thursday but ended up on our land on the Caragh Road instead.” There is also outrage amongst the users of the Caragh Road Sports Grounds through which the travellers gained access. And the residents association representing housing estates opposite the area have written to Naas UDC asking them to have them evicted from the site.

Kildare under siege by travellers KILDARE GENERAL, 28 July 2000: by Brian Byrne. County Kildare is literally under siege by travellers who blatantly break into private and local authority lands knowing that the legal systems used to deal with their incursions are archaic and inefficient, and only costly to the public purse and the community. The latest incursion is yesterday’s invasion (above), via the Caragh Road Sports Ground, of the Naas UDC site for affordable housing by travellers who, according to local people, include among their number some of those who left Naas UDC with an £11,000 bill after they had illegally located at Parc na nOg some months ago. Those travellers subsequently entered private property in Robertstown, after leaving Naas just before a court-imposed deadline. On Wednesday, KNN observed a number of traveller caravans parked briefly on the Curragh plains (above) which left litter that included soiled nappies and MacDonalds packaging. They are currently parked in Kilcullen, again illegally. In addition, almost a dozen traveller families illegally parked on private property adjacent to the parish church in Kilcullen at 4am on Wednesday morning. An angle-grinder was used to cut open a barrier at the entrance to the property. Without direct and corroborated observation of that operation, nobody can be charged with ‘breaking and entering’. Local people believe the Kilcullen groups are the same travellers who have been illegally camped on private property opposite MacDonalds in Newbridge for a number of weeks. That site is now empty and is being protected by mounds of earth. An incursion into Penneys car park in Newbridge by travellers earlier this year now means that an important car parking facility is now permanently closed (below). KNN has been told that representations to Penneys by Kildare County Council to reopen the car park are meeting with a cold reception. Travellers also occupied the Iarnrod Eireann car park in Newbridge earlier this year (below). Earlier this week gardai were called to locations in Celbridge where groups of travellers were confronted by local people when they tried to enter private lands, situations to which gardai were called ‘to mediate’. All over the county there are barriers of clay, bollards, boulders and metal, and protective ditches testifying to the failure of the national and local systems to deal with people who know that they can manipulate the system with impunity.  KILCULLEN ESSO AND XL STOP 'N' SHOP Open 7am-10pm for Fuel, Groceries, Toiletries, Flowers, Newspapers, Deli Food, Fresh Coffee and more.

'Limit travellers' convoys' call LEIXLIP, 14 July 2000: by Brian Byrne. Legislation to set limits on the numbers of traveller caravans who can travel in convoy should be enacted in order to stop ‘invasions’ of travellers on private property, such is currently happening in Leixlip and which has affected other towns such as Naas (above). That’s the view of Cllr Catherine Murphy, speaking at Leixlip Town Commission meeting this week, at which unanimous anger and upset was expressed by commissioners for the situation at the local Gaelscoil. A week ago, up to 60 caravans parked illegally on the school’s football pitch. The school has initiated legal action to move them. “These are obviously not impoverished travellers, as they have new BMWs, Mercedes vans and trucks with their ‘company’ logos,” Cllr Murphy told KNN yesterday. “They also seem to be ‘on holiday’ as the number of sun loungers and summer furniture would indicate. These people do nothing for those travellers who are in need of accommodation and who are part of this community.” Cllr Murphy said it was ‘totally unacceptable’ that such people can travel in large convoys, and that it was time for legislation similar to that in other countries where no more than three such caravans can travel in convoy. Similar difficulties with large groups of traveller merchants have been encountered in Naas, Newbridge, Robertstown (above), and Celbridge in the last year. They have cost local authorities and private landowners many thousands of pounds in court costs to move them on. In Newbridge, a car park behind Penneys store has been permanently closed since a group of such travellers occupied it and had subsequently to be moved by court action. The legal and cleanup costs for last October's incursion at St Gabriel's Place in Naas are estimated to have cost over £11,000, which is unlikely to be recovered. Among the debris left afterwards was a large amount of waste thrown into the canal (below) To Advertise on KNN, call 086 8267104, fax 045 481091, or email tellingtales@yahoo.com Advertising rates here

Travellers 'holding community to ransom' NEWBRIDGE, 14 March 2000: by Trish Whelan. Newbridge councillor John O’Neill yesterday called for a meeting between Kildare County Council, Newbridge Town Commission, Chamber of Commerce and Tidy Towns Association together with garda chief superintendent Sean Feely to discuss the problem of transient travellers parking illegally in the town. “They’re holding people to ransom and it’s a disgraceful attitude to people in general,” he said. A number of caravans have been parked in the carpark of Penney’s store in the town over the last week and yesterday, assistant county manager Terry O Niadh said the Council had secured a court injunction to have them moved on. Councillor Sean O Fearghail said the message seems to have gone out that Kildare will not take firm action against transient travellers. “We’ve had a situation in Newbridge where they have been camped in a machinery yard, in Newbridge Industrial Estate, in the new car park at the railway station (below) and now at Penney’s car park. And we’re only at the start of the summer season,” he said, adding that ‘if we have this level of incursion of travellers into the county, we won’t be able to cope'. County secretary Tommy Skehan confirmed he had received a letter from Newbridge Chamber of Commerce requesting an urgent meeting on the matter.

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Travellers take over new station car park NEWBRIDGE, 5 January 2000: by Brian Byrne. Travelling merchants who have already been ejected by court orders from several sites in Kildare in recent months have now taken over half of the new car park in Newbridge station. The travellers, who left an estimated bill for legal work and cleaning up of over £11,000 with Naas UDC after spending weeks in Pairc na nOg, have been illegally camped at the bottom end of the car park since before Christmas. More arrived yesterday (below) as the KNN photographer was taking pictures of the situation. Money for the car park was provided by the DTO and was part of several millions of pounds spent upgrading car parks on the suburban lines to Dublin. “This work was an essential part of the ‘park and ride’ programme which is being implemented by the DTO to tray and alleviate Dublin’s traffic chaos,” a spokesman for Iarnrod Eireann told KNN. There are height-restricting barriers at the entrance and exit to the car park, but KNN understands that a gate from a lane adjacent to the car park had its lock broken, thus allowing the travellers to enter. Since last October, the same group of travellers have illegally located in two areas of Naas, as well as Robertstown. Each time it has taken expensive legal action to move them on. While many of their vehicles are registered in different Irish counties as well as Northern Ireland and the UK, is understood that they are mostly based in County Limerick, where many of them own homes. Naas councillors have called for a change in the legislation governing illegal camping, so that it is not necessary for property owners to go to law before the gardai can move them on. Newbridge town commissioner Spike Nolan said last evening that things have ‘gone too far’ in relation to how some members of the travelling community behave. “These are people who can afford homes of their own,” he said. “I know that part of the problem is because local authorities haven’t implemented policies on halting site provision, but if anyone puts their head up and complains about the activities of these people, they are called bigots and racists. I’ve been called such names myself, but I'm not afraid to say what I think, and I think what I say reflects the feelings of many people in the county.”

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St Gabriel's 'invaders' leave £10,000 bill for collection NAAS, 10 November 1999: by Trish Whelan. Legal and restoration costs involved with the illegal encampment by a large number of travelling families at Pairc na nOg in Naas could reach £10,000, according to Naas town clerk Declan Kirrane. The UDC was represented in Naas Circuit Court today where they asked that they be allowed pursue the travellers for the full cost of the matter. “We had over 40 names on the list but expect it will be very difficult to try and collect the money - but we’re going to make every effort to do so,” Mr Kirrane told KNN today. The last of the travellers left last night in advance of being arrested on warrants issued following the winning of attachment orders against them in Dundalk Circuit Court last week. This morning, council workers were busy barricading the former tennis court and canalside land adjoining it. Meanwhile, the Midlands and Eastern Regional Tourism Organisation (MERTO) and Robertstown Development Association are this week seeking a court injunction against a group of the travellers who left St Gabriel’s Place last week and parked in a car park belonging to the Grand Hotel at the tourist spot (below). The hotel is owned by MERTO and leased to the RDA.

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Give us back our park! NAAS, 8 November 1999: by Trish Whelan. Residents of the area of Pairc na nOg in Naas, the scene of a large traveller encampment in recent weeks, say they want their park back! Paddy Power (above), the initiator of effort to develop the park, said generations of young children have used the playground and it should now be restored to today’s youth. But he asks who is going to reestablish the hard tennis courts and the football pitch after the recent traveller ‘invasion’. “Will the travelling community pay up for the damage they’ve caused? If one of their expensive vehicles was impounded, half of the cost of the damage caused by these ‘palaces on wheels’ would be recovered,” he asked last week, adding that he also wants legislation put in place to prevent travellers from returning to the site. Carmel Walsh (left) from St Gabriel’s Place said what happened was ‘an awful slur on the memory of the people who helped out and who have since died to see it being used as a halting site.’ Meanwhile, gardai in Naas have received arrest warrants for 37 people illegally parked at the site, following the successful application for Committal Orders by Naas UDC at Dundalk Circuit Court last week.

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Caravan owners face jailing move NAAS, 1 November 1999: by Trish Whelan. The owners of 23 caravans illegally parked at Pairc na nOg in Naas face jail this week if they fail to move off the site at St Gabriel’s Place under the terms of a court injunction granted to Naas UDC. The UDC is going to court in Dundalk on Thursday to seek committal orders against the travellers. The remaining caravans include 13 which originally parked on the former tennis court at the children’s playground almost a month ago (above). Up to Bank Holiday Monday, there were almost 50 caravans and acompanying vehicles parked along the banks of the canal, which has been left in a filthy state. Local residents have been up in arms over the matter, which led to disruptions at the monthly meeting of Naas UDC when some people criticised councillors for not listening to their concerns. The site was the scene of a similar problem in April of last year, and promises to secure the area against further incursions were not carried through by the local authority. Naas town clerk Declan Kirrane has confirmed that the authority will be seeking committal of those people failing to abide by the injunction. He is required by law to give them four clear days notice of intent to get the orders, and did so last Wednesday.

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Call for litter prosecution of travellers amid fears they'll return NAAS, 27 October 1999: by Trish Whelan & Brian Byrne. A Naas resident has called on the UDC to pursue travellers who dumped their refuse in the canal and prosecute them under the Litter Act. John Kavanagh of Kingsfurze says that such a case would be a ‘landmark’ against ‘commercial’ travellers who have ‘desecrated’ sites at the entrance to Naas, Kill, Newbridge and at the weighbridge at Rathcoole in the past and most recently left the green area in St Gabriel’s Place in a ‘filthy’ state. “The same vehicles have been involved in a number of these incidents, and the council and thus the taxpayer/ratepayer has been left to foot the bill for these,” he says. “It is a shame to see an open area being destroyed by these agitators. There are decent people amongst the travelling community, but these aren't some of them.” Mr Kavanagh also notes that if the play facilities on the St Gabriel’s site had been left in place or upgraded as needed, then there wouldn't have been a vacant lot for these ‘non tax-paying (ie non contributing) businesses’ to move into. Meanwhile, as a number of the caravans illegally parked at St Gabriel’s Place were taken away by their owners over the weekend on foot of a Circuit Court injunction granted to Naas UDC, a councillor has called on the authority to put up a fence immediately to make sure the situation doesn’t occur again. Cllr Evelyn Bracken also wants the full rigours of the law used, including committal orders if necessary, to remove those remaining. “It’s so unfair to the people of the area,” she told KNN. “The ones who’ve left have told people of the area that they’ll be back.”

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Departing travellers leave dirt, excrement, behind them in Naas NAAS, 26 October 1999: by Trish Whelan & Brian Byrne. The Naas branch of the Grand Canal at Caragh Road Bridge is full of rubbish and under the bridge itself is a serious health hazard because of human excrement left by travellers who have been illegally camped in the area for up to three weeks. The walkway under the bridge had clearly been used as a toilet by the transient visitors, who could have numbered in excess of 200 people. More than 20 of the 45-plus caravans which had arrived in the area left yesterday afternoon, following the serving on Friday of an injunction by Naas UDC on the owners of the vehicles. The injunction had been granted to the council at Wicklow Circuit Court on Thursday. The green area in front of St Gabriel’s place is today littered with discarded mats and timber pallets, and the ground has been churned up beyond easy repair. A spokesperson for the local residents said today that their ‘worst fears had been realised’. “We’d been advocating for a long time that things needed to be done here, but we knew it was only a matter of time before we were faced with what happened in the last few weeks ... the problem simply wasn’t high on the council agenda.” The spokesman also said that the state of the area this morning simply reiterates in a very graphic and pungent way their call for new legistlation for moving travellers on - a call which was echoed by Naas town officials and councillors last week. The three local TDs have been asked for their support to promote such legislation.

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UDC gets injunction against travellers NAAS, 22 October 1999: by Brian Byrne. Naas UDC yesterday succeeded in getting an interlocutory injunction against the owners of almost 50 traveller caravans illegally parked at St Gabriel’s Place. The council was granted the order in Wicklow Circuit Court and can now order the travellers to leave. However, the situation may not yet be resolved fully, because if they don’t move, the council has to go back to court for a Committal Order before gardai can take direct action. Earlier this week, town officials and elected members called on the Government to change the legislation relating to moving on travellers, after town clerk Declan Kirrane served notice to 46 caravan owners of intention to seek the injunction (above). Residents of the area attended the monthly meeting of the council on Tuesday night to show their anger at how slow the procedures being followed by the council were. Meanwhile, they’ve also called for support for legislative change from local TDs Charlie McCreevy, Emmet Stagg and Bernard Durkan.

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Outbursts at UDC discussion on travelling traders situation NAAS, 20 October 1999: by Trish Whelan & Brian Byrne. Last night's meeting of Naas UDC had to be suspended for a time by the chairman following interruptions by a member of the public during discussions on the current 'invasion' of the St Gabriel's Place area by travelling traders. Afterwards, people from the locality dissociated themselves from the outburst by the man, who only identified himself later as being from Corballis. But at the same time, the residents expressed their emphatic anger at a situation they say would not have arisen if promises to fence in the Pairc na nOg area, made by the UDC in April of last year, had been followed through. Up to 50 people from the area went to last night's meeting to express their feelings, though only 25 were allowed into the public gallery. At the outset, chairman Seamie Moore asked that they not interject into the proceedings, and brought forward a motion by Cllr Pat McCarthy on the issue, asking for - among other things - fencing of the area, and pursuit of the trespassers for restitution for damage. Cllr McCarthy said the residents had suffered from an 'invasion of brazen and hard-necked' people who had no consideration for them and who had subjected some local people to not getting 'a minute's sleep' in the last weeks because of their noisy generators. To murmurs of 'hear, hear' from the gallery, he said he feared that some people might 'take the law into their own hands'. "These travelling traders are not poor people," he continued. "They have property worth millions of pounds, top-of-the-range caravans with satellite dishes, and phone numbers for nationwide businesses. They have damaged property, and when they're gone it shouldn't end there - they should be pursued and prosecuted for this." He suggested that the existence of a builder's store on part of the Pairc na nOg site, which has been a source of contention locally, and the hard surface of the former tennis court had both contributed to the attractiveness of the site for the travellers. He called for the erection of notices which would clearly warn anyone attempting to park there that they would face the full rigours of the law. In his contribution, Cllr Pat O'Reilly said that legislation was needed which would break up convoys of three or more caravans 'and send them in different directions', and he asked if nothing could be done to prevent travellers coming in from outside the jurisdiction gaining entry to the country? Cllr Timmy Conway said the councillors had a responsibility in that promised bollards were not put in place by the council. "If we had to put up with what the residents here have had to for the last three weeks, we'd be up there roaring too," he said, adding that the UDC should be 'securing every open space in the town'. Cllr Evelyn Bracken noted that she had walked along the canal behind the area and that the situation under the bridge was 'disgusting'. "I'm worried that the health board is not involved," she said. Suggesting that the local people were 'prisoners in their own homes', Cllr Willie Callaghan said he didn't accept that gardai and the council had no powers to move such travelling traders on. He said that he had spoken with colleagues in other counties where there didn't seem to be a problem. "Where there's a will there's a way ... these people have broken fences, for instance, and I'm sure that they could even be got at under the Noise Pollution Act." Cllr Charlie Byrne said that Naas might as well have a sign up saying that the town 'was twinned with the travelling community', the situation was so bad. "How come gardai don't ask a convoy of caravans at 11 o'clock at night where they're going?" he asked. "If it was me coming out of a pub with two pints in me, they'd be onto me very quick. The sooner we get legislation that gives us the same rights as these travellers seem to have, the better." Many other areas of Naas with open spaces were wondering 'if they were going to be next', Cllr Mary Glennon said, and called on the gardai to act tough. "These people are living outside the law - if the gardai confiscated their £90,000 vehicles, often not taxed or insured, and put them up for sale for compensation for damage done, that would soften them. We need to have a strong talk with the gardai about their responsibilities. And the Revenue Commissioners probably know as much about the activities of these people as they did about the Ansbacher accounts." Town Clerk Declan Kirrane read from a letter circulated last evening to all residents, detailing the position concerning the injunction being applied for on tomorrow. He said that when trespass occurs on public property, the only recourse to the council is to seek such an injunction, and the council or gardai do not have the power to physically remove mobile homes or vehicles from the site. Town manager Terry O Niadh said that travelling convoys was a national problem and would have to be 'addressed nationally'. The leaflet also makes it clear that no consideration has ever been given to the possibility of establishing a halting site in the St Gabriel's Place area. "It's impossible to make any town secure against a travelling convoy like this who want to go into an open space," he said. "Everyone here understands the feelings and frustrations of people living in the area. Meanwhile, some people in town are obviously doing business with these traders, or they wouldn't be here. If people stop doing business with them, that will solve the problem.' Concluding, prior to what turned out to be unanimous support for his motion, Cllr McCarthy said he didn't want Naas 'turned into a fortress. "Nor do I want a blanket condemnation of people living in caravans ... but we have to do something." Councillors praised town clerk Declan Kirrane and his officials for their work behind the scenes in trying to resolve the situation. The town manager and council officials are to word a proposal to the ministers for justice and the environment asking them to put legislation in place to allow local authorities to deal with this kind of problem

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'Get legislation changed' town clerk tells angry residents NAAS, 19 October 1999: by Brian Byrne. Naas town clerk Declan Kirrane told angry residents of St Gabriel’s Place (above) yesterday that they should ‘get on to their national politicians’ to change the legislation in relation to moving on travellers who park illegally on public property. He was responding to criticism of Naas UDC over the arrival of scores of traveller caravans into the area over the weekend. The residents had demanded to know why fencing hadn’t been put up around the green areas and Pairc na nOg following a similar situation last year. Mr Kirrane replied that ‘a fence up is a fence down’ but the real problem was that the local authorities had to go through a long and expensive legal process for every individual instance of trespass. “Until the law is changed, this kind of thing is going to keep happening,” he said. Residents said ‘the rot had set in’ when the council had allowed a building contractor to store his materials on part of the Pairc na nOg playground while he was carrying out work on behalf of the UDC in the area. Mr Kirrane had earlier served notice on the owners of the caravans of an intention to seek an injunction against them at next Thursday’s sitting of the Circuit Court in Wicklow. Last Friday, he had issued similar notices to the owners of 13 caravans which had parked on the former tennis courts almost three weeks ago. In all, almost 50 owners of caravans in the area have been issued with such notices. Yesterday’s operation was carried out with garda support. There were no incidents and children chatted happily with gardai as they escorted the council officials around the site. Most of the occupants at the time were women and children. One of the few men there remonstrated with gardai inspecting a new 3-series BMW coupe (value c. £40,000) with foreign registration plates. Other vehicles on the site included three British-registered Landcruiser Amazons, which in Ireland cost up to £78,000. Meanwhile, a special meeting of local authority, garda and health bodies was also held yesterday afternoon in Naas to see what can be done to deal with the latest influx of travellers. And Naas councillors were informed last evening of the situation. Meanwhile, KNN understands that many local residents intend to go to tonight’s monthly meeting of Naas UDC to show the strength of their feelings.

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Officials, gardai, to confront invading travellers in Naas NAAS, 18 October 1999: by Brian Byrne & Trish Whelan. Naas UDC officials backed up by gardai are to tell the owners of over 60 traveller caravans parked by the canal at St Gabriel’s Place to move on. The officials will be on site at 3pm this afternoon, and will be taking names to add to an injunction which will be finalised at a sitting of the Circuit Court in Wicklow on Thursday. The travellers moved in en masse over the weekend, following the granting of an interim injunction against the owners of a small number of caravans which had been illegally parked in the area for the last three weeks. Naas Town Clerk Declan Kirrane told KNN this afternoon that there was a misconception that local authorities had immediate right to move such people on. “This is not so - we have to go through a lengthy process under the existing legislation, which simply cannot cope with the kind of problems local authorities face today,” he said. “There’s an urgent need for a change in legislation at national level, but in the meantime we have to continually go through this injunctive process, which is very expensive. It’s just not fair on councillors to be getting phone calls from angry residents, when the procedures put the matter largely outside our control.” A special meeting of local authority, garda and health bodies is also to take place this afternoon in Naas to see what can be done to deal with the massive influx of travellers. And Naas councillors will be informed this evening of the situation. Meanwhile, KNN understands that many local residents intend to go to tomorrow night’s monthly meeting of the UDC to show the strength of their feelings.

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'Invasion of marauders' to Naas NAAS, 18 October 1999: by Brian Byrne & Trish Whelan. Residents of Naas are said to be ‘in fear of leaving their homes’ over the last few days following what has been described by the town's UDC chairman as an ‘influx of marauders’ in the form of more than 60 caravans belonging to travelling families. And Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has been slammed for his government’s inaction on the traveller issue. The travellers, from Britain, the North, Cork, Dublin, Wexford and many other counties, descended on Pairc na nOg beside the Grand Canal since Friday, following a court application by Naas UDC to evict six families who were illegally parked on the site for the last 10 days. A temporary injunction was granted on Friday and the council is due in court again Wednesday for an interlocutory injunction against those six families. But the latest mass arrival renders that application worse than useless. “This has to be dealt with at a national level,” UDC chairman Seamie Moore stormed yesterday afternoon. “We can’t cope with the traveller problem at local level because we’re not getting support from the Government. And I’m incensed at Bertie Ahern telling us that every town and village in Ireland should get themselves prepared ‘to take in an influx of refugees’ from Central Europe when he hasn’t at national level sorted out both our social housing problems and accommodation for travellers.” Cllr Willie Callaghan told of residents in the St Gabriel’s Place area of Naas ‘in tears’ on the phone to him over the weekend. “They’re afraid to leave their homes this morning even to go to Mass,” he said yesterday. “The whole town is being intimidated by these people.” Cllr Moore made a clear distinction between indigenous travellers who are being helped by the council in Naas and what he calls ‘commercial’ travellers who are ‘holding the town to ransom’. “We’re doing what we can with our limited resources to help people who have shown they want to be a part of the community. These invaders are all doing business and have no rights to be parked in our public places.” (Pictured above are a group putting a ramp in place to facilitate driving on and off the green area beside Pairc na nOg.) Cllr Callaghan said the ‘law will have to be changed’ to stop this kind of thing. “What’s happened here is that the ones who were going to be thrown out have rung their friends and relations to come in and complicate the situation. And the gardai have a part to play here too - a lot of these people have trucks registered outside the State ... if you or I did this we’d have our vehicles confiscated.” On Friday, when town clerk Declan Kirrane went to serve the court orders on the original six families, only two gardai were available in the headquarters of the Kildare-Carlow Garda Division to support council officials. “I was told most of the gardai were away on computer courses,” he said. Ironically, as of last Friday evening, gardai across the country are refusing to to use computers in the latest industrial action by the force - a new Y2K-compliant computer system was due to come on line this week, but gardai are now back to using pen and paper until they get more money to use the new system. Meanwhile, a property owner at Kilashee has taken his own action (below) to deal with travellers parked on his property - he has erected a fence around the caravans, a number of which were still there even after the fence was finished at the weekend.

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Removal of illegal travellers 'will take two weeks' NAAS, 14 October 1999: by Trish Whelan. The removal of a group of travellers parked illegally on the Pairc Na nOg playground at St Gabriel’s Place could take at least two weeks, according to Naas town clerk Declan Kirrane. He said the council was hoping to get into the Circuit Court by the end of this week or early next week to ask for a Committal Order against the travellers, who are breaking a previously-granted injunction against parking on the site. But Cllr Pat McCarthy (left) has told local residents he ‘can’t understand’ why the court order wasn’t sought last week, and claims the travellers are able to ‘run rings around the system’. He said the residents have had to put up with ‘misery’ unnecessarily, and he has put down a motion for next week’s monthly meeting of the council asking that the parking by ‘travelling merchants’ on the site be strongly condemned and that measures be taken to prevent a repetition. These include the erection of a secure fence, and a warning notice indicating the property is protected by a court injunction. He also wants civil and criminal proceedings to be instituted against all persons identified as having illegally occupied the site, and the implementation of the terms of a resolution passed by the council in July of this year regarding the development of the site. “I now expect the present crisis to end very shortly, and I have no intention of letting matters rest if it is not,” he told residents yesterday. “My main concern now is to prevent a repetition.”

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Inaction on travellers raises hackles in St Gabriel's Place NAAS, 8 October 1999: by Brian Byrne. Residents of St Gabriel’s Place in Naas say they have ‘lost all semblance of respect’ for the elected members of Naas UDC, because of inaction over the arrival of a group of travellers on the Pairc Na nOg play area. The travellers set up on the site a week ago but as yet the residents claim there seems to have been no effort to move them. “These people are well-heeled and one Hi-Ace openly advertises ‘Nationwide Cobblelock Services’,” the local residents association note in a letter of complaint to the UDC. “They seem to be prepared to stay for an indefinite period. Their electricity generator drones on throughout the night and we have not had a decent night’s sleep since their arrival.” The association also says that ‘gardai are conspicuous by their absence’, and asks why has a court order not been served on the travellers, who now have eight mobile homes on the site. “When we spoke in the Council Chamber as part of a deputation we were given a categorical assurance that a court order would be served and that it was not the intention to change the status of the area to a halting site. In addition they promised to fence off the perimeter until such time as remedial works are carried out. Nothing in this regard has occurred - in fact, quite the opposite.” The residents suggest they are regarded as a ‘docile populace’ who will ‘have to put up while the council dithers’. Nobody was available at Naas this afternoon to comment on the situation.

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