The Galway Traveller Movement has said it will seek an investigation and a rapid clean-up operation following the discovery of racist graffiti on a caravan in Carrowbrowne this week.
It is believed the caravan was defaced over the weekend, while the occupants were visiting a sick relative in another part of the country. Vandals scrawled ‘up Padraig Nally’ and similar slogans on the caravan while it was unoccupied.
The graffiti is a direct reference to the Co Mayo farmer who shot and killed John ‘Frog’ Ward, a member of the Traveller community, in an incident in 2004.
Mr Nally was convicted of manslaughter, but his conviction was quashed on appeal in October 2006 and he was subsequently found not guilty of manslaughter in a retrial. At the time of the incident Mr Ward and his family lived at the nearby Carrowbrowne halting site.
The Nally case proved to be hugely divisive, with supporters of Mr Nally claiming he had a right to defend his person and property, while others argued that his actions far exceeded the level of reasonable force which would constitute self defence.
The Galway Traveller Movement said this week that it will support the owner of the caravan in seeking an investigation into the graffiti, which a spokesperson said fuelled anti-Traveller sentiment.
“At any level we would condemn this kind of graffiti, which targets a community,” a spokesperson for the group said. “This kind of behaviour incites hatred of the Traveller community and at no level can it be acceptable.
“The Galway Traveller Movement will be looking further at this and working with the Galway City Partnership to raise awareness of how this devastates communities by supporting anti-Traveller sentiment.”
A Garda spokesperson said gardaí had not received a complaint about the incident. However it is understood the occupants only became aware of the graffiti yesterday.
Meanwhile the Galway City Council has applied to the Galway County Council for permission to construct a halting site in Carrowbrowne.
Permission is sought for a ‘temporary transient site’ and is a variation of a previous planning permission. The application proposes the use of the site in Carrowbrowne for three years.
