'Traveller housing not wanted here,' say locals

FinnLizzy

Residents in Sligo village oppose construction of allotments that they believe are going to be used as Traveller homes

A MAJOR BATTLE is shaping up in Collooney over fears that Sligo County Council is considering moves to provide Traveller housing on land opposite the Owenmore Gaels GAA pitch, that local people had hoped to use as allotments.

At Monday's meeting of the Council, local councillor Thomas Collery said "there is no way we will allow Travellers accommodation on this field."

He added: "There will be a big fight if you go in with machines for housing. If we need the Bull Mccabe there, we will get him."

The issue arose when Cllr. Sean Macmanus said more than 50 people had made applications for allotments. He said they were led to believe by council staff that there would no problem in getting a lease on the lands. They got a one-year lease, and in the belief they would get an extended lease, they had an official opening by Minister John Perry, attended by Cllr. Gerard Mullaney, who had voted against it earlier.

Yes, another Traveller thread. But I wouldn't want a haulting site built right next to my estate, so I can sympathise.

Also, the village in question is already raped with Celtic Tiger-esque ghost estates and empty retail buildings. As well as this disaster just down the road, so from a perspective that has nothing to do with travellers, I'm sure locals would be upset that more fields are being raped.

So, do you think that the locals are handling this issue well? Or have they played the 'P*ss off travellers' card too quickly?

galwayrush

It's not in my backyard . :cool:

Sitec

shite in the bucket

strobe

Which Sligo!?!? :mad:

hondasam

Where are the council getting the money to build houses?

FinnLizzy

galwayrush wrote: »

It's not in my backyard . :cool:

Yeah, they have to go somewhere. Once the hastily constructed walls and Virgin Mary statues start popping up, you should be worried.

Johro

Pff... Fields around here are full of rape.

stovelid

Isn't everybody in Sligo a traveler?

token101

Imagine the travellers faces when they are told they have to stop travelling and move to...Sligo! Then they'll have a valid case of their Yooman rights being abused for once :pac:

washman3

Great post.
Can you tell us who the politican was that secured planning permission for that complete debacle in Ballisodare? he should be locked up and keys thrown away. what a fcuking disgrace.!! :mad:
did the locals kick up any stink when that "thing" was being built??
the same locals that are opposing travellers relocating now??
And is the developer being paid €100-€200k a year to "manage" it.:mad:

charlemont

Travelling folk, The greatest people in the world.

stupidusername

oh goodie, haven't had a traveller thread in a aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaages

FinnLizzy

stovelid wrote: »

Isn't everybody in Sligo a traveler?

You'd swear that only Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Cavan are allowed to have established stereotypes. Every other county seems to be open season.

"Yerman there is from Roscommon, I hear they don't shower!"

FinnLizzy

stupidusername wrote: »

oh goodie, haven't had a traveller thread in a aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaages

Yeah, the bleeding hearts of AH just want to pander to all their needs!

iguana

If they are built I wonder will they be burned down?

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/traveller-house-gutted-in-suspected-arson-1805697.html

http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/0402/suspected-arson-attack-on-kilkenny-house.html

http://pavee.ie/mediamonitor/?p=3987

baldbear

Racists.

My name is URL

Careful now

The UN may be reading this thread - http://www.thejournal.ie/calls-for-government-to-recognise-travellers-as-ethnic-group-385572-Mar2012/

staker

Just so long as there's a drive for the main residence caravan.

LilyCricket

I'll be honest myself, I would not like a traveller site built beside me where I live.

Not in a million years.

token101

I think anyone is that says they would welcome such a development in the ir locality without caution or fear is disingenuous at best.

FinnLizzy

token101 wrote: »

I think anyone is that says they would welcome such a development in the ir locality without caution or fear is disingenuous at best.

There's already a haulting site up the road from the field in question. They could just, lets say, move into houses! There's no shortage of them in Collooney.

Chuck Stone

LilyCricket wrote: »

I'll be honest myself, I would not like a traveller site built beside me where I live.

That's why the councils are trying to house Travellers in one off housing in the country but people are extremely hostile to this too.

votecounts

A lot of this is due to locals being greedy "oh no, this will knock more money off my house mentality". While forgetting that members of the settled community can be the biggest tools, criminals, bullys, etc
Reaps of racism.

Tigger

votecounts wrote: »

A lot of this is due to locals being greedy "oh no, this will knock more money off my house mentality". While forgetting that members of the settled community can be the biggest tools, criminals, bullys, etc
Reaps of racism.

read what you just wrote : not wanting your house devalued because having travellers next door will do that is no more racisim than not wanting a sewage works or any thing that will devalue the single biggest purchase a person ever makes

Dudess

votecounts wrote: »

A lot of this is due to locals being greedy "oh no, this will knock more money off my house mentality". While forgetting that members of the settled community can be the biggest tools, criminals, bullys, etc
Reaps of racism.

I'd say it's more to do with worrying about anti social behaviour, which not all will be carrying out, to be fair, but it's a likelihood from some.

FinnLizzy

votecounts wrote: »

A lot of this is due to locals being greedy "oh no, this will knock more money off my house mentality". While forgetting that members of the settled community can be the biggest tools, criminals, bullys, etc
Reaps of racism.

Would you like to donate the area around your house to them?

votecounts

Dudess wrote: »

I'd say it's more to do with worrying about anti social behaviour, which not all will be carrying out, to be fair, but it's a likelihood from some.

Same could be said about members of the settled community.

cocoshovel

Racism me bollox! christ, the urges these traveller threads bring upon me. I better keep quiet going by previous comments, the ****in cúnts.

Dudess

votecounts wrote: »

Dudess wrote: »

I'd say it's more to do with worrying about anti social behaviour, which not all will be carrying out, to be fair, but it's a likelihood from some.

Same could be said about members of the settled community.

Violence is a bigger problem within traveller culture. Social workers at the coalface will tell you that.

FinnLizzy

votecounts wrote: »

Same could be said about members of the settled community.

The settled community accounts for more than 97% of Western Europe. And that's a generous statistic! We're talking about a minority with a culture based on seclusion, gender roles, and fighting.

Mr Benevolent

FinnLizzy wrote: »

"Yerman there is from Roscommon, I hear they don't shower!"

But they don't.

WolfgangWeisen

Having lived near both a Traveller settlement/housing and a halting site before, I can honestly say that if it were proposed to put one near my current residence I would up sticks and move. If moving were not an option, I would certainly mount an opposition to the proposal or join one that already existed.

The census has highlighted some very serious figures and issues with the Travelling community here, most/all of which are brought on and maintained by themselves. Proposals such as the one discussed are being made in the hope that if the government simply dump travellers in with settled people, they'll conform and behave acceptably in society. This isn't anything new and isn't working.

A quote from an article posted in the Irish Times today

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2012/0407/1224314499129.html wrote:

Extended family is very important to us. I’d hate to be put in a house or apartment away from family. I think it can damage you and make you depressed if you are living in an environment with strangers, and maybe facing discrimination.

This is from a Traveller and what appears to be quite a reasonable and well spoken one at that. If Travellers do not want to be housed with settled people, and settled people do not want to be housed with Travellers, then they shouldn't be forced to by some over-reactionary county counsellors who don't have to deal with the consequences of their actions in any way.

LilyCricket

I have seen the disrespect they have for the environment & how badly they treat it. Thats the main reason I would not like to have them set up near my home.

Johro

There's a fair few settled travellers live near me, most are sound enough, some are anti-social f#ckers. Much like the rest of the neighbourhood. I avoid the ones I've had arguments with and get on fine with the rest, in fact I'm invited to a traveller wedding .
When we had that bad winter I got snowed in, and the traveller guy down the road checked to see if I needed coal or anything else from the shop, I got him to get me some milk and bread, teabags, few things. He got them and wouldn't take any money off me, saying 'sure we're neighbours'. I think a lot of people have problems with travellers coz they start out treating them as 'scumbags', I'd rather give them a chance before I judge them. I'm not denying some are bad news, but the ones that are bad news are known, and so easily enough avoided.

LilyCricket

Johro wrote: »

There's a fair few settled travellers live near me, most are sound enough, some are anti-social f#ckers. Much like the rest of the neighbourhood. I avoid the ones I've had arguments with and get on fine with the rest, in fact I'm invited to a traveller wedding .
When we had that bad winter I got snowed in, and the traveller guy down the road checked to see if I needed coal or anything else from the shop, I got him to get me some milk and bread, teabags, few things. He got them and wouldn't take any money off me, saying 'sure we're neighbours'. I think a lot of people have problems with travellers coz they start out treating them as 'scumbags', I'd rather give them a chance before I judge them. I'm not denying some are bad news, but the ones that are bad news are known, and so easily enough avoided.[/QUOTE]

not if they're put living beside you,

Johro

LilyCricket wrote: »

I have seen the disrespect they have for the environment & how badly they treat it. Thats the main reason I would not like to have them set up near my home.

Yup, my main gripe with local travellers has been about them throwing their rubbish around, but let's not pretend they're the only ones doing it. Irish country roads have got to be some of the worst in Europe for bags of rubbish, old cookers/fridges/sofa's the lot. Plastic bottles, crisp wrappers, cans etc are everywhere and just about everyone does it.

Johro

LilyCricket wrote: »

Johro wrote: »

There's a fair few settled travellers live near me, most are sound enough, some are anti-social f#ckers. Much like the rest of the neighbourhood. I avoid the ones I've had arguments with and get on fine with the rest, in fact I'm invited to a traveller wedding .
When we had that bad winter I got snowed in, and the traveller guy down the road checked to see if I needed coal or anything else from the shop, I got him to get me some milk and bread, teabags, few things. He got them and wouldn't take any money off me, saying 'sure we're neighbours'. I think a lot of people have problems with travellers coz they start out treating them as 'scumbags', I'd rather give them a chance before I judge them. I'm not denying some are bad news, but the ones that are bad news are known, and so easily enough avoided.[/QUOTE]

not if they're put living beside you,

My nearest neighbours are settled travellers and I've no problems at all with them. The youngest lad was a pest for a while, driving up and down the road like a f#ckin maniac, but that stopped after I complained about it to his father, and the lad's a bit older now and less stupid. I found if you can just talk to them without prejudice you're the most likely to not get trouble. If you're civil with them and they're not, by all means complain or call the guards or the council or whatever, but don't just write them off coz they're travellers is all.

LilyCricket

Johro wrote: »

LilyCricket wrote: »

My nearest neighbours are settled travellers and I've no problems at all with them. The youngest lad was a pest for a while, driving up and down the road like a f#ckin maniac, but that stopped after I complained about it to his father, and the lad's a bit older now and less stupid. I found if you can just talk to them without prejudice you're the most likely to not get trouble. If you're civil with them and they're not, by all means complain or call the guards or the council or whatever, but don't just write them off coz they're travellers is all.

I certainly would not write them off

I would just chose to not have them living beside me, is all

Dudess

If they're causing mayhem, asking them to stop/avoiding them won't do much.
My neighbours are travellers too and they're grand - although they briefly caused a bit of sh1t at the start. But no probs at all now. They're pretty sound.
However a whole bunch of families - nothing wrong with having apprehension re this.

Johro

Dudess wrote: »

If they're causing mayhem, asking them to stop/avoiding them won't do much.
My neighbours are travellers too and they're grand - although they briefly caused a bit of sh1t at the start. But no probs at all now. They're pretty sound.
However a whole bunch of families - nothing wrong with having apprehension re this.

Fair enough. Guards in that case. Just saying though, when I had a complaint I talked to them first, and they appreciated I could've called the guards. Most people would call the guards first. My point really is that if you start off on a bad foot you got no chance.

Dudess

Your complaint wasn't a serious one - I agree, if you feel you can talk to them, go for that rather than something more drastic - but if it's really serious, intimidating stuff, that's just going by the behaviour, not writing them off due to being travellers.

Spread

Does the council propose to put wheels under the said houses? If not, then the prospective tenants should change their sobriquet or GTFO!

Dudess

strobe wrote: »

Dudess wrote: »

If they're causing mayhem, asking them to stop/avoiding them won't do much.
My neighbours are travellers too and they're grand - although they briefly caused a bit of sh1t at the start. But no probs at all now. They're pretty sound.
However a whole bunch of families - nothing wrong with having apprehension re this.

*Travellers* is a code for ni[COLOR="Black"]g[/COLOR]gers, right?

:pac:

I happily defend travellers who don't deserve to be tarred with the anti traveller brush, but I'm not gonna be disingenuous and fail to acknowledge there are serious problems very prevalent in traveller culture. "I'm not racist but" dig forthcoming I suspect.

lividduck

So long as the locals don't do this
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/travellers-faced-threats-before-home-set-on-fire-3074317.html

irelandspurs

They have put them in our estate in empty houses,within a week the kids started smashing everything and abusing people and the adults are either filling other peoples bins with rubbish chucking it into empty gardens or burning it,all you can smell all day is burning plastic.
We have a traveller family next door to us and we knew they were moving there before they got there and other neighbours complained,i gave them the benefit of the doubt and they are actually a nice family,I've helped him fix his car and let him use the lawnmower etc.

TwoShedsJackson

hondasam wrote: »

Where are the council getting the money to build houses?

From the taxpayer of course. In fact I hear they specifically used your taxes to start building a couple of them.

That Ballisodare development is a disgrace.

Arnold Layne

hondasam wrote: »

Where are the council getting the money to build houses?

Probably from the proceeds of the household charge which the travellers will never pay

luckyfrank

lets be honest nobody wants travellers beside them............. bringing attention to yourself for the household charge

mikemac1

stovelid wrote: »

Isn't everybody in Sligo a traveler?

That's Tuam

MagicSean

There's something i just don't get. Traveller groups are lobbying for travellers to be recognised as a distince ethnic group with their own culture. But as soon as someone recognises them as a distinct ethnic group with a culture of thieving and poor education then they go up in arms and say they should be treated the same. Are we only expected to recognise the happy sunshine side of their culture?

Smeggy

Speaking as someone who's only ever had bad experiences with travellers I have to say I'd kick up a massive fuss if they wanted to live within 10 miles of my house!!

For example, in my local village once a year in August the travellers come from around the country to have a "horse fair".. They literally shut the town down for three days (so local people can't even drive up the street and have to detour out the countryside), they pile up their rubbish on the street, tools, toys, furniture etc.. they tie the horses onto the green. Pubs, the hotel and shops close for the day and probably a few nights beforehand as well. Then amazingly they vanish into thin air during the night leaving a clean up bill of about ten grand at last count.... All year round the people in the town invest a lot of time and effort into the tidy towns and they are simply allowed to come and destroy the place and waste that kind of money cleaning up after them, it really annoys me! :mad:

What makes me laugh however is the show The Truth About Travellers, they're so "respectful" and have such "great morals and traditions" it could'nt be further from the truth.. Give me a break!!