The group of Travellers who have moved onto the car park of the football pitch at Millars Lane, Rahoon have vowed not to leave the site until suitable accommodation is secured.
The group of nine families towed caravans onto the site last week after moving on from previous locations in Knocknacarra and Moycullen.
A Galway City Council spokesperson said, “The caravans are illegally parked and will be moved, and the City Council is working with the families and the Galway Traveller Movement to find an appropriate solution.”
The travellers had previously been encamped at a site outside Moycullen and briefly in Knocknacarra.
Speaking to Galway First William Delaney told of the families’ determination to remain at Millars Lane until a site with facilities had been provided.
“We’re not moving till we get suitable accommodation. We’re from the city, we never had anything, we’re legally part of it all our lives since the day we were born.”
Mr Delaney acknowledged that their previous location had been unsuitable but insisted that no help had been offered to the group in finding a new site.
“We were in Moycullen for 11 months. There was an odd neighbour against us being there but the people in the village was decent people. The location wasn’t good. There was a river wall on one side and a main road on the other side. A number of dogs got killed there. We were in fear of our kids, being there.
“The council never came to meet us at all, never came round us. They’re saying they’re trying everything in their power to help us but they’re not telling us what.”
Mr Delaney accepted that the council would try to move the families off the site but insisted there was nowhere else for them to go. “They want us to go on, they’re talking about giving us notice to move on. They’re not happy wherever we are.” He said they would consider a place at a halting site with facilities if one was available.
The football pitch is used by Galway Bohemians FC. The club run adult and juvenile teams, and an underage training session on Wednesday was interrupted by dogs. Mr Delaney said he had assured a member of the club that would not be repeated and there would be no littering or damage to the pitch. Chairman Niall Egan said the club would discuss the issue at a committee meeting before speaking to the City Council and the Galway FA.
A resident of nearby estate Gort Na Bró expressed surprise at the number of caravans which had been parked at the site. “I’m fairly shocked. I don’t know what’s going to be done about it or can anything be done about it or what.”
He believed the travellers should move on and expressed concern at the possible effects on the running of the football club.
