*A section of the crowd in Sixmilebridge.
LARGE CROWDS turned out in Sixmilebridge on Monday evening at a heated public meeting seeking the removal of a campervan from a local housing estate.
Last month, an illegal encampment was removed from the car park of Sixmilebridge train station where it had been located for two years and five months.
Up to four caravans had been based at the train station since the arrival of the encampment in February 2021 when they had moved from the grounds of St Senan’s RFC in Shannon. This figure had reduced to three by March and since June just one caravan remained.
This caravan has since relocated to Lios Anama, a housing estate in Sixmilebridge and its presence is leading to rising tensions within the village.
Anger was palpable at Monday’s meeting which was attended by an approximate 200 people and heard vocal criticism of An Garda Síochána, Clare County Council and political representatives. Gardaí were in attendance to monitor proceedings from afar.
In the absence of a Chairperson for the meeting, Mayor of Clare, Cllr Joe Cooney (FG) attempted to chair the hostile gathering. Cllr John Crowe (FG), Cllr Pat O’Gorman (FF), Cllr Alan O’Callaghan (FF) and Senator Timmy Dooley (FF) were the politicians present while Clare TD, Cathal Crowe (FF) held a meeting with residents on Sunday.
Mayor of Clare, Cllr Cooney was the first person to speak on Monday. “There is a lot of concern about the caravan parked at the end of the housing development, we’re well aware of the concerns of the people have over the parking up there and the issues over what is happening, we are to listen to your views, we are well aware of your concerns, I know the local councillors have been working on the issues and the concern of the illegal parking up there, there has been what I say bollards put in place to prevent other parking but we are well aware that ye have serious concerns, we’re well aware over what has gone in the Bridge over the last couple of years with illegal parking at the train station”.
Pace at the action or inaction of getting things done was voiced from the crowd. A Section 24 notice has been given to the Gardaí by the County Council. “It means they will have to look at all the guidelines and see at some stage can they tow away the caravan but again they have to have all their paperwork in place,” Cllr Cooney explained.
One male local resident said this notice was issued last Thursday evening and that it has been breached, “24 hours elapsed and they had to be offered suitable accommodation, they’ve been offered a house in NOF which they turned down. They had 24 hours to leave which was up last Friday evening, we were asked could the Gardaí monitor here but they don’t have the resources for that so we were told be vigiltant ourselves, keep an eye out, one of the hurdles for the section 24 is that it has to be vacant. It was vacant yesterday, several residents rang the Gardaí, we were told that they hadn’t the resources to handle it on a Sunday evening. We were told when it gets contested it can go to the High Court, the Council spent €800,000 contesting these alone in the High Court, would it not be in case of putting people on overtime for a couple of weeks on call to sort that out in a shorter timeframe than it dragging on, getting contested and going to the High Court costing another €800,000”.
A first round of applause followed comments by another man who said, “They are dictating to the Council. The station up there is blocked, why is it blocked? Travellers dictating to the law”. A woman in the crowd stated, “We’re being held to ransom, it is ridiculous”.
That the matter is “a legal mess” has made matters more difficult, Cllr Crowe flagged. “This has been going on as everyone knows for the last three years, we were trying to get them out of the railway station and it was in a legal mess, the big problem in the railway station was that the County Council owned the car park but in a situation like this, this is a private housing estate and the County Council don’t own it so I feel that is the lever that we have to use as regards getting them out”.
Views from Cllr O’Gorman that a dedicated Chairman was needed for the meeting were not well received, “We want to have a Chairman because everyone shouting and roaring isn’t going to solve anything either”.
This served as the Cratloe man’s only contribution as he cited his frustration with getting shouted down, “I spoke to the engineer last week on several occasions and have been in communication with some people living in the estate. The problem as I see it from talking to engineers and Gardaí is when the caravan is pulled out of here if it is”.
One woman stated in response, “This isn’t solely a Lios Anama problem so we can’t solely have someone from this estate chairing this, it is a community and village wide problem, it is not a blind problem, ye know the details, it was flagged on the 10th of March when the bollards went up in the railway station, it should have been a proactive approach when this was predicted but we were ignored by the Council, we should not be standing here tonight having this discussion, it is as simple as that, it’s not fair for people to live like that or for us to put up with that lifestyle when we don’t choose that lifestyle, it is not acceptable and I don’t think we should be subject to it or putting our individual names or faces out there to deal with the mess, it shouldn’t have happened”. Her comments were met with a round of applause.
Processes in place are not right, Cllr O’Callaghan maintained. “I’ll keep it very short and sweet. Everyone that knows me will know that my blood has been boiling for the last two and a half years along with John for that problem, I’ve stuck my neck out as often as I could, at the end of the day we have to go through a process, is the process wrong? 100 percent it is wrong. Clare County Council have issued a Section 24 and it is up to An Garda Síochána to enforce it so they need to step up and say we have a problem so what we do”.
O’Callaghan added, “This encampment is using it as a lever to get a house out of the Council, people are entitled to whatever they do but they have to fight tooth and nail for it, this is used as a lever to get a house, they’ve been offered one if not two houses, everything was agreed, there’s a man above in the Council back from North Clare and I swear to God lads he has fought tooth and nail for the last two years to deal with this and he never met such an amount of stumbling blocks going down the route of legislation and that is the problem, the issue is with An Garda Síochána, the section 24 has been issued and they need to do something about it.
When questioned on who can enforce it, Cllr O’Callaghan responded, “Gardaí are here and they need to go back to the Superintendent. Look at all the angry people that are here, he can carry that back. The Council don’t enforce the law, it is not pass the parcel, it is now a An Garda Síochána issue.
Queries on if the caravan could be towed if left vacant, Cllr Cooney stated, “That is correct, that is what we’re led to believe”. This prompted one resident to pipe up, “That caravan was vacant for seven hours on Sunday, several people rang the Guards who are telling them that they can’t move it and that they need a clear plan from the Council. Between the Guards and the Council, can ye come up with the same story”. O’Callaghans Mills native Cooney replied, “The Council were on standby today if they got the call today to go ahead and move it, unfortunately they didn’t get the call”.
At this juncture, children from the campervan attempted to video participants at the meeting but were cleared by Sixmilebridge locals. “Don’t stand there and trying to plamas me. I got on the phone to you (Timmy) when they first got in there and what did you tell me, oh they’ll be gone and two and a half years later they are now outside my front door,” one woman stated.
Senator Dooley acknowledged the frustration and annoyance within the community. He said the only solution was to house the persons in the vehicle. “I suspect the only solution now is to ensure it is comprehensive and long-term, by taking the caravan tonight fine if it happens, great and we’ll be happy but will it be up the road or in another green area and you’re back to the same process again”.
He recounted a similar occurrence at his own estate in Tulla. “I know what this is like, I live in an estate in Tulla, about seven or eight years ago somebody who owned two houses, the houses were being taken back by NAMA and they just gave the keys to a similar group of people who put a horse in the back garden and were there for about six months, they caused absolute rumpus, I was just about getting in at night because the neighbours went absolutely ripshit with me and believing the law could be changed overnight, they thought I should be able to do something about it but you just can’t wipe the slate clean and call in all the guns overnight, we succeeded and they moved on. The solution here is to find accommodation for the family up there in a manner that meets the Council’s policy and gets them out of here as quickly as possible”.
Efforts by Senator Dooley and Cllr Cooney to have two to three representatives from the locality join a committee were rejected by the residents. “No we are standing united,” was the response from the crowd when this was put to them.
Queries were raised on whether it was “Council policy to negotiate with people on the social housing list? That is essentially what you are doing, she has been offered a house and has refused it, you are now going to go back and offer her a different house,” said one man.
In response, Senator Dooley commented, “The Council don’t negotiate with people for a house but it solves the problem by moving it this evening as what happened at the train station, it is the domino effect that it lands here, you solve the problem here and it goes across the road or is back a week later or in the green space, the only long-term solution as hard and all as it is to stomach is to get a house for the family”.
When Cllr Cooney asked if a representative of the residents was willing to speak at the meeting to give their views on what they feel the politicians should do, he was laughed at. “Once there are witnesses and everything is being recorded, I’m not going to speak up. There is a fear factor,” one female resident stated.
A Sixmilebridge native told the meeting that urgency was needed to remove the campervan. “We were told to approach the Gardaí, the first night they came in here nobody knew, the second night I stood here at 10pm until 6am, the Gardaí were supposed to have an overnight presence but I didn’t see one car come in for the whole night, not one and I went to bed at 6am, that is the problem and it is the response times”.
This tense meeting ended with Cllr Cooney appealing for a contact person to come forward so that there could be a link with the higher authorities in an effort to remove the encampment from Lios Anama.
