Travelers Get All Motorbike Tests Canceled in Clare

CptSternn

I posted this in the motorbikes section as well, but thought it needed saying in the Clare forum too.

I have been waiting 8 months to take my driving test. It *was* scheduled for 10:15 am tomorrow. I get a call an hour or so ago from some guy at the RSA who tells me all the bike tests are canceled and will be rescheduled because a road the instructor uses for the test has a bunch of caravans that moved on to it a few days ago.

I took a pre-test with a local instructor to be familiar with the route and the roads here in Clare. I was on that very road YESTERDAY. The caravans are on the road, but the travellers never came out when we were doing our testing (i.e. star stop, obstical avoidance, etc). In fact, they are a bit down the road from the area the instructors normally use for the test.

Either way the RSA says with people living there they can't test. I asked why doesn't the instructor use a different road then? I was told it would take months to have the proper persons to come out and designate a new road for the test. I asked could the move me to another testing area. They said they could, but I would be moved to the bottom of the list and forced to wait another six month.

So either way I am screwed. The RSA lad said it could be months before they can get the travelers moved off the road, and in the meantime, all bike tests in Co. Clare are canceled.

I'm rather pissed off that a few lads in a caravan are able to have all driving tests in the county canceled until further notice.

I'm trying to find out who to complain to now - the RSA says its not their job to move them, the Gards say it can take time. Either way everyone who currently has a motorbike driving test scheduled in Co. Clare will now be rescheduled...after they move the travelers.

Teadrinker

CptSternn wrote: »

I posted this in the motorbikes section as well, but thought it needed saying in the Clare forum too.

I have been waiting 8 months to take my driving test. It *was* scheduled for 10:15 am tomorrow. I get a call an hour or so ago from some guy at the RSA who tells me all the bike tests are canceled and will be rescheduled because a road the instructor uses for the test has a bunch of caravans that moved on to it a few days ago.

I took a pre-test with a local instructor to be familiar with the route and the roads here in Clare. I was on that very road YESTERDAY. The caravans are on the road, but the travellers never came out when we were doing our testing (i.e. star stop, obstical avoidance, etc). In fact, they are a bit down the road from the area the instructors normally use for the test.

Either way the RSA says with people living there they can't test. I asked why doesn't the instructor use a different road then? I was told it would take months to have the proper persons to come out and designate a new road for the test. I asked could the move me to another testing area. They said they could, but I would be moved to the bottom of the list and forced to wait another six month.

So either way I am screwed. The RSA lad said it could be months before they can get the travelers moved off the road, and in the meantime, all bike tests in Co. Clare are canceled.

I'm rather pissed off that a few lads in a caravan are able to have all driving tests in the county canceled until further notice.

I'm trying to find out who to complain to now - the RSA says its not their job to move them, the Gards say it can take time. Either way everyone who currently has a motorbike driving test scheduled in Co. Clare will now be rescheduled...after they move the travelers.

Very frustrating. The Gardai are not doing their job but, then again, if they try to do it, the local equivalent of Amnesty International will be weighing in and delaying things. Suggest you send the letter to editors of The Clare Champion and The Clare People but maybe delete the 'screwed' remark...for the Champion anyway.

irishturkey

Teadrinker wrote: »

Very frustrating. The Gardai are not doing their job but, then again, if they try to do it, the local equivalent of Amnesty International will be weighing in and delaying things. Suggest you send the letter to editors of The Clare Champion and The Clare People but maybe delete the 'screwed' remark...for the Champion anyway.

Don't you realise the knac... I mean travellers are an ethnic minority group who are allowed to cause havoc the second they feel their human rights are being infringed upon i.e somebody mentioned the mess they make, somebody mentioned that a days work would be no harm

Victor

Who is winding up who?

Run_to_da_hills

These are just poor homeless people, You should have pity on them. :pac:

Cushla

Thats so annoying. Bet it wudn't take as long to sort out if it affected car tests. Motorbikes such a minority, nobody is goin to be in a rush to sort it out. Hate that the "non settled community" seem to have their own laws. If anyone else was parked illegally like that they would be forced to move, or it would just land on a tow-truck.

Dr Kamikazi

Also, when I'm reading stuff such as

it would take months to have the proper persons to come out and designate a new road for the test

and

I asked could the move me to another testing area. They said they could, but I would be moved to the bottom of the list and forced to wait another six month.

That just translates directly in

Jaysus, the canteen opens in 5 minutes and if I waste any more time talking to this eejit, all the best buns will be gone.

It really illustrates the kind of thinking that is desired, encouraged and even required to work in the public sector.

firesidechat

just a few observations;
At the first roundabout on n85 going in to ennis yesterday I saw a caravan burnt out on the side of the road,Don't worry lads about leaving your ****e on the side of the road ,It's not like ye can afford to have it moved ,what and been so happy with the new replacement ye probably forgot it was there.More work for the council....
Six weeks on a sunday morning i decided to drive to clareabbey,having passed it every day i was courious to see the attraction.So armed with my camera i drove down the new gravel road leading to clareabbey.Half a mile to the abbey i had to get out and walk as the entrance was blocked
with caravans,I then proceeded to walk through the nencampment to get to the entrance gate to clareabbey.The area was full of rubbish ,half burnt caravans ,burnt mattresses inthe field ,Now to avoid all this obstacle course i took a detour through some fields ..........
How in gods name is a tourist supposed to get to clareabbey.
we are trying to promote clare tourism and these people have no respect for public or private property..IT IS A ****ING DISCRACE....

soccymonster

Yea they burnt a caravan alright.
There 'was' a gate beside that burnt out caravan that was locked with a padlock to prevent them moving in there.
Anyways, today I was on my way back from galway with my mam and what do ya know! The pavies broke the padlock (not sure if they tore down the gate) and moved into the field there.! About a dozen caravans inside the field now. Disgraceful stuff..

irishturkey

yeah right beside skehanagh roundabout. its time this country saw sense and started treating these fcuking leeches with the contempt they deserve. the fcukers should be burnt out if it one by one till they realise normal human values should apply to all and the day of claiming racism or ethnic minority discrimination is long gone. bullpoo. get a job. contribute. maybe then you'll have a valid claim to feel like you're being discriminated against. even if it is somebody suggesting that you live by the same laws as the rest of us, give it a shot at least, maybe, just maybe, you'll garner some semblance of sympathy for your "plight".

sad fact of it all is that they'll be gone by the weekend with a trail of destruction left in their wake. i just pity the poor people of killorglin who'll have to deal with them next. year after year they constantly manage to ruin puck fair for the normal decent type who just wants a laugh.

bastardised cuntophilic leeches.

I DO NOT LIKE PAYING OTHER PEOPLES WAY

firesidechat

irishturkey wrote: »

yeah right beside skehanagh roundabout. its time this country saw sense and started treating these fcuking leeches with the contempt they deserve. the fcukers should be burnt out if it one by one till they realise normal human values should apply to all and the day of claiming racism or ethnic minority discrimination is long gone. bullpoo. get a job. contribute. maybe then you'll have a valid claim to feel like you're being discriminated against. even if it is somebody suggesting that you live by the same laws as the rest of us, give it a shot at least, maybe, just maybe, you'll garner some semblance of sympathy for your "plight".

sad fact of it all is that they'll be gone by the weekend with a trail of destruction left in their wake. i just pity the poor people of killorglin who'll have to deal with them next. year after year they constantly manage to ruin puck fair for the normal decent type who just wants a laugh.

bastardised cuntophilic leeches.

I DO NOT LIKE PAYING OTHER PEOPLES WAY

in all fairness now ,i cannot agree with what you write.
There is good and bad in every community ,settled and travellers
and it is not fair to paint them all with the same brush.
There are a lot of good traveler families living in clare and they dont
deserve to be blamed for the wrong doing of others.i dont think you would like if someone discussed burning you and your family out of your home on a public forum.

soccymonster

They blame us for being racist towards their group. And looking at that burnt out caravan, can you blame us?
They're riding around in big, flashy jeeps and cars while there are decent people out there trying to scrape penneys together to have a roof over their head.

firesidechat

Loath them or love ,Either way there is no justification for racism.
It just makes one look ignorant and stupid.
By showing racism in a debate ,It only hurts you when trying to get you'r opinion heard and makes it very hard to take you serious.

Teadrinker

Interesting piece based on this original thread in The Clare People today. Seems like the RSA and Clare County Council may be shamed into doing a bit of work!

Clareman

I drove down the by-pass today (first time in a week) and it's a disgrace, I'm sorry, but only a couple of miles up the road (on the same road mind) there's a halting site for them, in fact in both directions there's 1, not to mention the 1 in Drumbiggle.

Irish is a country with many different cultures, nationalists, Unionists, travellers, Cork people, Dubs, we all get on, but I don't accept that this much accommodation is made for 1 small minority, please preserve their way of life and cultures, they deserve that, all cultures do, to drive them out would be to ethnic cleanse, but they have to make some allowances for living in modern Ireland

soccymonster

I probabaly sound daft even mentioning this but my friend was pointing out an idea earlier yesterday. What about making or giving them all an island and putting them on it?
They have their own land. They arent obstructing anything. They arent ruining scenery or nature. :P

Teadrinker

soccymonster wrote: »

I probabaly sound daft even mentioning this but my friend was pointing out an idea earlier yesterday. What about making or giving them all an island and putting them on it?
They have their own land. They arent obstructing anything. They arent ruining scenery or nature. :P

It's not a new idea. It's called apartheid.

Are there any moderators on this site?

Mr. Presentable

firesidechat wrote: »

Loath them or love ,Either way there is no justification for racism.
It just makes one look ignorant and stupid.
By showing racism in a debate ,It only hurts you when trying to get you'r opinion heard and makes it very hard to take you serious.

It's not racism. They are not a different race! They are a differently moral group. Like burglars, criminals etc. Not a different race.

soccymonster

Teadrinker wrote: »

It's not a new idea. It's called apartheid.

Are there any moderators on this site?

really? God, i thought she was crazy! Guess not..
I was thinking the exact same thing tbh.

CptSternn

I sent this post as a letter to the Clare People and yes, they used a bit of it! I hope with a bit of attention brought to the issue that the council will have to act.

Also, I talked to a mate who is a relative of a Gard here in Clare and they said this is a new group of travelers - from outside of Clare that has taken up residency here and has been causing havoc all over the county.

Half of the ones on the round-about there now were parked illegally in Kilkee for the past few weeks, but they ran them off from there and they moved down to the round-about.

Either way, none are originally from Clare.

Also, the Council is having a hard time moving them due to their own screw up. The land they are on is privately owned by a man in Galway. He bought it a couple years ago for 26 million with plans to develop an industrial estate there. The thing is, after he bought it the Council denied his petition to build the state because the Council said there was too much of that type of zoning already sitting unused in the county. So yer man was stuck with a 26 million euro chunk of land he can't do anything with.

The travelers are now on that land, and the council is trying to move them, but since it is private land they have to have his permission to move them, but he is rather pissed off about the council screwing him on planning permission, so he is intentionally dragging his feet to cause them a bit of hassle.

I understand yer man - he was rightly screwed by the council after shelling out a large chunk of dosh. That being said in time the land will be worth what he put into it. In the meantime, I guess we will have to see how things develop.

irishturkey

puck fair on in kerry from monday to wednesday i think, watch them disappear between now and then... lets all volunteer to clean up after them

CptSternn

I rang the RSA again to complain and ask what they are doing to fix this issue. They again said it is not their problem and th local council have to deal with it.

I then explained the situation I stated above about the land dispute. The lady from the RSA then informed me that due to budgetary cut backs as well as new regulations which were brought in this year that a large chunk of motorbike testing centres had already been closed due to issues with th routes they were using for the test and new regulations. She then informed me that if this turns out to be a long running issue the chances are high that the RSA will simply cancel all future motorbike tests in Clare and force people to go to another county to get their license.

I think they are trying to beat the HSE on the race to the bottom.

Teadrinker

CptSternn wrote: »

I sent this post as a letter to the Clare People and yes, they used a bit of it! I hope with a bit of attention brought to the issue that the council will have to act.

Also, I talked to a mate who is a relative of a Gard here in Clare and they said this is a new group of travelers - from outside of Clare that has taken up residency here and has been causing havoc all over the county.

Half of the ones on the round-about there now were parked illegally in Kilkee for the past few weeks, but they ran them off from there and they moved down to the round-about.

Either way, none are originally from Clare.

Also, the Council is having a hard time moving them due to their own screw up. The land they are on is privately owned by a man in Galway. He bought it a couple years ago for 26 million with plans to develop an industrial estate there. The thing is, after he bought it the Council denied his petition to build the state because the Council said there was too much of that type of zoning already sitting unused in the county. So yer man was stuck with a 26 million euro chunk of land he can't do anything with.

The travelers are now on that land, and the council is trying to move them, but since it is private land they have to have his permission to move them, but he is rather pissed off about the council screwing him on planning permission, so he is intentionally dragging his feet to cause them a bit of hassle.

I understand yer man - he was rightly screwed by the council after shelling out a large chunk of dosh. That being said in time the land will be worth what he put into it. In the meantime, I guess we will have to see how things develop.

How can he own the road the RSA were using for the test? Surely, if it's a public road, the council is free to clear it?

CptSternn

He doesn't own the road, only the land beside the road, which the caravans are parked on. Did you see the picture in the paper? The caravans are not parked in the middle of the road, they are on the side.

firesidechat

soccymonster wrote: »

I probabaly sound daft even mentioning this :P

Yes you are correct....:D

CptSternn

I drove by the roundabout yesterday on my way through town and it appears all the travelers have fecked off. There are no caravans anywhere and large piles of gravel blocking the road where they pulled off.

Cushla

They didn't feck off exactly..they were escorted away by gardas & 2 recovery trucks. Not sure where they went but the important thing is they're gone. Hopefully your test gets rescheduled soon.

oh well

I don't ride a motorbike and I don't live near Ennis but I don't understand why they driving tests can't go ahead on other roads if this one is not avail. Surely, the tests should be conducted on all kinds of roads - and if one type is not avail for any reason (traveller's camp, accident, whatever) there are many other roads in and around Ennis which are also public roads and representative of the roads the biker would subsequently be using in daily driving.