Almost €100,000 spent on battle with Limerick Travellers

LIMERICK Council has spent almost €100,000 in a battle with Travellers who are occupying a halting site on the outskirts of the city.

There are a number of caravans parked on the land near Coonagh Cross, which have been deemed to be there illegally.

That means they are there without proper planning permission.

Data obtained by the Limerick Leader under the Freedom of Information Act reveals a cost to the taxpayer of at least €72,500 in fees related to planning enforcement cases in relation to the site near Coonagh Cross.

READ MORE: Irish can live by St Patrick’s example by being torchbearers in promoting peace – Bishop Leahy

In simple terms, planning enforcement means ensuring laws around planning are complied with. It deals with those who flout the law by ignoring, or not complying with the planning process. The information from the council reveals that 30 of these planning enforcement cases had been taken between 2022 and January of this year.

A significant number of these cases ended up in court.

On top of this, the council added that, as of January, a total of €12,449.51 had been spent to clear waste from around the halting site.

Solicitor Will Leahy, who represented the local authority in court last month in a case where Travellers at the site had breached enforcement orders, said that €16,000 had now been spent clearing up rubbish at the site on the northside.

This, combined with the €72,500 taking cases to court, means a total of €88,500 has been spent so far by council.

However, this figure could well be higher, with the council referencing the difficulties in producing accurate sums when it comes to legal cases.

In correspondence related to the Freedom of Information request, the local authority stated: “It is difficult to be precise when calculating legal costs in relation to ongoing legal issues. Normally, the final invoice is sent once the case has been closed and in many cases, there are many adjournment in order to allow the defendants to comply with the terms of the enforcement notice”.

Among other things, the cases related to the unauthorised occupation of a caravan, unauthorised caravans and unauthorised vehicles.

Last month, council launched legal action against a number of Travellers in that area to move their caravans to allow contractors start work on the €31m Coonagh to Knockalisheen road.

The long-awaited link is set to provide a second entrance into Moyross.