Visit to unoccupied houses branded ‘just a stunt’ by Traveller representatives
Traveller representatives have dismissed as “a stunt” the visit by would-be president Peter Casey to a group of new houses which were built for an extended family of Travellers who have lived on a nearby unauthorised site for more than 40 years.
Independent candidate and former Dragons’ Den panellist Mr Casey travelled by train from Cork to Thurles yesterday afternoon and arrived at the location of the six new houses, at Cabragh Bridge outside Thurles, just before 4pm.
However, he did not speak to any of the Traveller family members living opposite the development, saying he “would be invading their privacy” if he approached them. He was later criticised for leaving the area without meeting them.
Tipperary County Council has built the six detached houses at Cabragh West at a cost of more than €1.7m following an agreement reached several years ago with representatives of the extended McCarthy family who have lived on Cabragh Bridge for decades.
The Travellers now say there was an agreement with the council that they would move from the unauthorised encampment to the new houses if land was provided for their horses.
One of the family members, Philip McCarthy, said two weeks ago that “they [the houses] were to be built with a half-acre behind each house, with two stables”.
About 20 protesters, including supporters from the Tipperary Rural Traveller Project and the Irish Traveller Movement, were in the area during and after Mr Casey’s visit, with the scene policed by up to 20 gardaí and covered by up to 30 members of the media.
One of the local residents, Barry McCarthy, said they were “very happy” with the houses, “but they promised to build land with it. We have a bit of land and our stables here where we are at the minute. We have horses, dogs, and a couple of chickens as well.”
He said “we can’t move across” without accommodation for the horses.
Mr McCarthy criticised Mr Casey for his comments this week, saying “there’s no reason for him to talk down about the Travellers, what would he know about the Travellers anyway”.
He said it was “very frightening for the kids” to hear what he said about them and asked “what was the reason for him coming this far and then moving off just as fast”.
TJ Hogan, accommodation officer with the Irish Traveller Movement, said the visit by Mr Casey was “just a media stunt. We all see how Donald Trump in America got his presidency and I think he’s taking a page out of that”.
He said Mr Casey “didn’t come here to speak to Travellers”.
Before he left, Mr Casey said the fact that the new houses are not occupied “is just wrong” and said he visited the area to draw attention to the issue.
“People need to stand up and say when something is wrong, they need to turn around and say, ‘this is wrong.’”
