New reason for rejecting offer of social housing: no land for the horses

Brendan Burgess

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Families call for stables and land at Tipperary housing estate

A group of families have said they will not be moving into a €1.7m development of new houses that the local council has built for them, unless stables and land are provided for their horses at each house.
 
I guess offer the houses to the next on the list, maybe those who cannot afford to keep horses? It’s a non-story really, just move on.
 
It's not a non-story. These houses were built specifically for this group of Travellers who seem to live across the road. So I doubt too many other folk will want to take up the offer if it comes their way, which it won't.

1 question here that jumps out at me is how can 5 houses on the 1 site in Thurles cost the best part of €0.5m each
 
I do hope the goverment and the local council stand very firm on this. Are any of these people working, are they actively looking for work, have they been employed previously and if not why not? That's just for starters and no i'm not a racist and I would certainly not live beside those people nor would I stay if they were moved in beside where I live. Now, make what you want of that, it's time this was brought right out into the open. No such thing should exist like one rule for one group and another rule for everyone else.
 
I only read the report on RTE. It says that there was an agreement to provide land and stables for the horses. The council dispute any such agreement.
I think its unfair to label this as an excuse when clearly there is a misunderstanding of what was agreed.
 

They are unlikely to have ever worked nor will they. The sense of entitlement is astounding. A journalist on Newstalk visited the houses today and described them as state-of-the-art.

If the travellers want to keep animals/pets it is up to them to provide for them just like everyone else in the real world.

The houses should be immediately given to homeless families but we all know what will happen. It must be easy to spend other people’s money.
 
XMarks said:
They are unlikely to have ever worked nor will they.
Click to expand...

With respect, you dont know that. You also have to consider that as members of the Travelling community they have historically been one of the most disadvantaged and discriminated groups of people in the country.
Prospects for employment have always been low. We already have one poster openly admitting that they would not live beside these people - with attitudes like that, what prospect of a job?

Here is a bit more information about the McCarthy Traveller community in Tipp

http://tippfm.com/news/tipperary-traveller-groups-highlight-mental-health-issues/
 
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plenty of received liberal wisdom there .

you would surely agree that the houses should not go to waste , nor should an infinite period of time be left to settle this dispute , travelers tend to be patient when it comes to demands , id hate to see a situation where a stalemate results in these houses sitting idle for years .
 

Of course, that would be tragic. Im somewhat sceptical that a council would agree to a stable and grounds for each house. At best a communal stable on a adequate piece of land should suffice, and would probably be more practical.
But I dont know for sure.
Certainly, in the quotes from the McCarthy family they appear to be very impressed with the standard of housing.
 
The answer is quite simple:

- Allocate the houses to other people

- Investigate the parents for child neglect and take their children into care if needs be

- Investigate the Travellers in question for animal cruelty and seize their horses

- A broader point; crush and eliminate the Traveller way of life which has no place in the modern world

Carry-on like this is laughable given the current homeless crisis.
 
Im holding out for a castle.

That money could have housed a whole lot more people... what a waste and a disgrace.
 
A contribution worthy of the real Gordon Gekko. I wonder, could it be....is that really you Gordon ...?

On a broader point, I'm not a million miles from that point of view, I think the working man is the marginalised class now, a distinct ethic grouping.
 
Leave the horses where they are , and travellers move into their new houses.

Three assumptions
1. Land where the horses are is owned by the travellers.
2. Traveller families will not feel deprived of their cultural heritage by being forced to live in houses, and abandoning travelling.
3. Foot ( and horse ) bridge to be built over the road -- much cheaper than a long dra
wn out legal battle.
 
Or maybe house the horses and the ethnic spirit of doing so will suffice the individuals concerned. What really gets me is the sense of entitlement they have. Why, what exactly do they contribute to Ireland?
 
I think the issue is that there is a dispute over what was, or was not agreed. Nothing to do with a 'sense of entitlement'.
Basically, they are Travellers, and most likely have faced disproportionate levels of discrimination and disadvantage.
Suicide rates are higher, life expectancy lower, educational standards lower, employment prospects lower etc...all to a point that others wouldn't live beside them or move if they came near them.
Coupled with that most people, like myself, would rather see the end of halting sites as they are typically inadequate and typically foster a culture of seperation.
To that end, adequate and suitable social housing needs to be provided - which, on the face of it, appears to be what is being provided here. However, one stumbling block, a dispute over the provision of land for horses as agreed, or not.
 
There's a housing shortage not an animal housing shortage. I believe the local authority and hope this gets out of hand so the people of this country can at last see the sheer greediness and bare faced cheek these cosseted lot have. Old people need solid fuel, let these travellers work the bogs and cut and harvest timber from May to September, in between there's plenty of maintenance needed on country roads, towns need cleaning up, so do parks and public amenities, so much needs doing and these people can do it for what they're being given by the state for nothing right now.
 
Just to point out that the total cost of the 6 houses, a mixture 5 and 4-bedroom dormer bungalows, stands at €1.951m inc VAT. These houses are evidently in line with traveller custom and tradition and it is simply the lack of an extra half-acre of land plus two stables per house, that makes them unacceptable from a tradition and an ethnic perspective. No doubt we'll here more from Pavee Point on this issue.

As to citizens from other ethnic backgrounds getting access to the homes, that would be a PR triumph for the traveller movement and would no doubt be portrayed as a denial of their civil rights and proof of Irish racism. Why is it that those who contribute least to society seem to have the greatest clout when holding the State to ransom?
 
https://m.independent.ie/irish-news...aveller-homes-in-local-standoff-37398684.html

If the land behind the site is council owned, then I don't think it would take a rocket scientist to figure how this could be resolved.
On the other hand, if the land is not council owned and there was no agreement in writing to provide stables for horses, then the houses should be allocated to others willing to set up home in them.

Only drawback then is, if you were homeless and living in emergency accommodation, would you move into houses that were earmarked for the Travelling community?
 

When are you running for office ? and here is my vote already
 
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