Blanchardstown Community Website

Traveller sites in Blanchardstown

In the Blanchardstown area there are approximately fifteen Traveller sites. They range from official halting sites, to group housing sites, to temporary and emergency sites. Some of these sites have been in existence for over 16 years and some are fairly recent and have been around only a number of weeks. We are going to focus on two sites in the area - one an official halting site in Porterstown and the other an official temporary site St. Christopher's in Cappagh. These sites are called official sites because they have been provided by the local authority, in this case Fingal Co Council.

Porterstown

Porterstown is a five bay halting site located in the Clonsilla area of Blanchardstown, beside St. Mochta's National School. The site has one extended family, the Joyce's, who were one of the first families to move in when it was opened. Each bay on the site has a service unit, which has hot and cold water, a shower unit and toilets. It also has a wash area and room for a fridge and washing machine. Each bay on the site has room for two caravans and each bay has a fire extinguisther.

In general terms the site is fairly good and is well looked after by the families on the site. The site also has a caretaker who collects the rent and the ESB money. The site has a gate at the entrance, which the family requested, as the road is too dangerous for small children. Some of the issues on the site include; families not not having keys to the barrier and the fact that cars passing the entrance to the site drive at the excessive speed. There are no ramps to stop this. Also the shower units are not heated and cannot be used in the winter time. Porterstown has been built over 5 years.

St.Christopher's

St. Christopher's is a temporary site located in the Finglas area. It is one of the largest temporary sites in the area. There are approximately 14 families living on this site. The only services that are provided are a chemical toilet, an outside cold-water tap and a skip for rubbish. The site layout was very badly designed and is rat infested for most of the year. The driveway to the site has potholes and some of them are 1ft. to 1.5ft wide and nearly that in depth. It is hard to say anything positive about this site. There are no fire precautions and the families do not have access to the key to the barrier, which means that no Fire or Ambulance services can enter in an emergencey. There is no public phone or electricity on this site.

There are no plans in the near future to close this site or refurbish it. Some of the families say they would be better off on the side of the road but on the roadside they could be faced with eviciton. It is obvious that serviced sites are what is needed. There are still a large number of Travellers who do not have access to basic services like hot and cold water, a toilet or electricity. They also do not have access to fire precautions or a phone.

Travellers need to be involved in a process where new sites are being planned. The Travellers Support Group, with funding from Blanchardstown Area Partnership, has carried out a piece of research which looked at the accommodation issue and other issues affecting Travellers in the Blanchardstown area and is available from the partnership offices.