This article is from page 22 of the 2008-03-11 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 22 JPG
TWO members of the Travelling community have appeared in court, A ik-NEKeCO MAINO MBE OL Sseec DUN am Oy: Du On ITcam belo caravans on Ennis Town Council erounds almost six years ago.
The two men, aged 34 and 24, were prosecuted under the Housing Mis-
cellaneous Provisions Act, which was introduced in 2002.
Inspector Tom Kennedy told the court that this case dated back to 2002 and related to the parking of caravans on lands owned by Ennis seam eeiiale
The court heard that both men pleaded guilty to two charges each,
of parking their vans at Drumbig- gle, Ennis, without the consent of the owner of the lands.
Their solicitor said they had no- where else to go.
“My clients didn’t have anywhere to live at the time. They found it dif- ficult to find accommodation,” he Said.
“They were living on the side of the road at the time. They lived as Trav- ellers always had done, on the side of the road,’ he added.
He said that the two men now lived with their families in houses and want to “move on”.
‘Was this in the form of a protest?” Judge Joseph Mangan asked.
The solicitor replied, “No, there was no protest involved.”
Inspector Kennedy said the legisla- tion was brought into effect because of illegal parking.
“This was one of the first cases,’ he said. The judge dismissed the charg- es under the Probation of Offenders aoe