Courts / Tipperary / Report

Judge refuses council enforcement order on site of Traveller-specific housing

Summary

In a High Court decision on 3 November 2023, Justice Siobhan Phelan refused to enforce a 2013 order that would have required members of the O'Reilly family to remove unauthorised mobile homes, caravans and animals from the Railway Cottages site in Powerstown, Clonmel. The judge held that the order did not provide a proportional interference with the families' rights and that it failed to safeguard against removal from a site where a patently unsuitable accommodation offer had been made. She noted that the council had not attempted to provide traveller‑specific accommodation and that keeping animals is integral to Traveller identity. The judge acknowledged that the council had carried out significant works since 2013, including sanitation improvements and removal of 31 unauthorised structures, but found that the 2021 claim of overcrowding and new animals was insufficient to justify enforcement. The case will be heard again at a later date.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Judge refuses council enforcement order on site of Traveller-specific housing. Procedural stage: hearing_or_decision

When:

• 2023-11-03 Publication

Why: The judge accepted that the council had properly explained why, after a period of six years since the 2013 order was made, it had not been not enforced earlier. CNI source report

Places mentioned

Topics

Stage Hearing Or Decision

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Read the original CNI report