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Buncrana Travellers ‘living in hell’ 02.02.10
by Caoimhinn Barr, Inishowen Independent
A TRAVELLER couple are ‘living in hell’ at a halting
site outside Buncrana. Martin McDonagh and his
partner, Mary Ward, are the last remaining residents
on the roadside location at Lisfannon.
Conditions at the site are so bad that Martin and
Mary can hear scores of rats running below their
mobile home every night. Martin’s terrier dog is
covered in rodent bites.
The young couple, who have lived outside Buncrana
for almost a year, have no running water or toilet
facilities. An outside Port-a-Loo is full to the
brim with human waste. It hasn’t been emptied in
months.
Martin and Mary use a generator for limited
electricity and heat their mobile home with a gas
cooker.
It got so cold after Christmas that some of the
windows remain cracked from top to bottom.
Rubbish is strewn everywhere and the site looks more
like a dump than a place fit for human habitation.
Numerous rat holes are visible along the surrounding
fences.
Martin and Mary are at their wit’s end. The couple
have been trying to get housed since March 2009.
They have, as yet, been unable to get onto the
Buncrana Town Council housing list. |
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“We are stuck here like
animals. Nobody seems to want to help us,” Mary
said.
“I’m ashamed to bring people around here. We are
cracking up!” Martin added.
“We have been told we can get on the list if we have
a baby but you wouldn’t bring a dog up in this place
never mind a newborn baby!” Mary said.
The couple say they have appealed to the council
‘constantly’ without success.
“They keep saying - ‘We will look into it’ – but
they never do. Nobody seems to want to do anything
for us,” said Martin. |
“All we are asking for is a little help but no one
is listening. This is a shame on the council,” Mary
said. The pair said they really like Buncrana and
its people and want to stay here.
“My family moved back to Dublin last year but we
prefer it up here. We want to stay in Buncrana
because it is a great town,” said Martin.
“We love it in Inishowen but we desperately need
help. We are trying our best but nothing is
happening,” Mary said.
Martin added that taxi drivers who had driven into
the site commented on the squalid conditions.
“This place is a nightmare. It is a living hell and
I don’t know how much longer we can stand it,”
Martin stressed.
Local Councillor Daren Lalor said that anyone who
can show that they have made Buncrana their home
should be able to get onto the Council housing list.
“All applicants should be treated equally under the
points scheme of letting priorities,” he said.
When contacted yesterday evening, Buncrana Town
Council said they do not comment on individual
cases. |
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