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Irish Times page 6 bottom right - traveller story

Pal

I guess I won't be going to Kells anytime soon.

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Furry Burger

Who shot who in the what now?

mike65

I'd don't have a copy or subscribe so whats the story?

Mike.

0utshined

Thanks for that meditraitor

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

meditraitor

From the indo, is this what you are on about chief?

Farmer gives €1.6m land to Travellers

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Barney Kearney: giving away land

Brendan

Morley

AN ELDERLY bachelor farmer is giving away his land worth €1.6m to the local Traveller community.

Eighty-year-old Barney Kearney, from Carnaross, Kells, Co Meath, admitted his plan had caused "a damnable racket" among the local community but he is determined to press ahead regardless of local objections. Mr Kearney, who lives in a small cottage he built with his late brother, said: "I don't need money and I don't need land.

"The only bit of land I need is six by three."

He did not "give two hoots" what happened to the farm.

Travellers had often worked on his farm in years gone by, said Mr Kearney, as he recalled memories of the women "coming to my door, the rain running out of their long hair, looking for water to boil over their camp fires.

"They led hard lives but I never had any bother with them. They are no different from the rest of us. Aren't they human beings too? If people mixed more with Travellers, they would understand them better," he said. He has instructed a local solicitor to transfer ownership of his 65 acres of prime Meath farmland to the Navan Travellers' Workshop. Two solicitors had first tried to discourage him and then refused to represent him, before a third agreed to effect the transfer. Farmland in the area is currently fetching around €25,000 an acre.

Mr Kearney said he had first considered donating the land to either Kells Town Council or the health board. He had mentioned this idea to a local politician but nobody had come back to him. It was after he listened to a radio documentary about the Traveller community that he decided to give the land to them.

He headed into Navan and went into St Mary's Church where he lit a candle and prayed for guidance.

He then went into the office of the Navan Travellers Workshop on the town's Fair Green to offer them the land.

"I hope the land will do them some good," he said, joking: "I had to do something to make up for my sins."

Navan Travellers Workshop has been in existence for 40 years, running educational and training programmes for Travellers.

A spokesman for the group said the transfer of ownership had not yet been completed and emphasised that the land would be held in trust, so no one individual would benefit.

He denied that the land would be used for a halting site and said his organisation was considering the possibility of creating a heritage park to highlight Traveller culture.

hullaballoo

Fair play to him.

ferdi

"The only bit of land I need is six by three."
Too true. thats all anyone needs in the end.

ronbyrne2005

im sure the locals and new residents who moved from dublin wont be too happy! 60 acres of travellers ...lovely

Caliden

and this has what to do with those delightful snacks we call crackers?

shroomfox

Rhyme it.

[Deleted User]

Caliden wrote:

and this has what to do with those delightful snacks we call crackers?

Yeah, i thought this had something to do with how they were made.. some disgusting fact that would put me off 'em.

quad_red

it'll probably be the first time they'll ever have had to pay tax.

Ever.

Vinnie69

meditraitor wrote:

From the indo, is this what you are on about chief?

Is Barney the same Barney who used to live next door to Fred and Wilma???

I think that it is a great idea. Vinnie69 is thinking of giving his plot in d6, it will seriously p**s off the neighbours:D

gerTheGreat

quad_red wrote:

it'll probably be the first time they'll ever have had to pay tax.

Ever.

Dave!

quad_red wrote:

it'll probably be the first time they'll ever have had to pay tax.

Ever.

Who says that they will?

Yer man was probably harassed into givin them the land tbh.

Oh sorry -- I mean, travellers are the salt of the earth; hard-working and determined, they defy all odds and continue to make a valuable contribution to Irish society. Kings among men.

Who's the cat that won't cop out
when there's danger all about?
(Shaft!)
Right on.

Mexicola

Aye, fair play to him. Pikies Rule!

Stephen

DaveMcG wrote:

Who says that they will?

Yer man was probably harassed into givin them the land tbh.

Riiiiight.

spiderlegs

Fair play..he'll get karma..he'll probably win the lotto next week or something!!

lostexpectation

a heritage park seems a bit of waste, seeing as so hard for them to buy land for them to stay on don't worry im sure the ethnists councillors will frustrate planning permissions they may need.

FlutterinBantam

Will there be a place for the old fridges??

StupidLikeAFox

He prob decided this after watchin Snatch.....

At least the locals will now have a set place to go and reclaim their stolen goods after break-ins.

Jumpy

Theoretically speaking, if a traveller buys up land and parks loads of his mates caravans on it, is there anything the neighbours can do?

mloc

anyone notice the way the old guy had a massive shiner on the news? Out of the good of his heart?! I doubt it...

Dave!

Jumpy wrote:

Theoretically speaking, if a traveller buys up land and parks loads of his mates caravans on it, is there anything the neighbours can do?

Doubt it, it's his land innit? It's a waste of land, it'll be full of dirty nappies soon enough, then what? Move onto someone else's land...

mloc wrote:

anyone notice the way the old guy had a massive shiner on the news? Out of the good of his heart?! I doubt it...

Yeah I saw that.. Rural old farmer, "lives quiet life", suddenly gets a black eye, and then spontaneously decides to give his land to travellers. A bit fishy. Although he could well have just got a dig in the pub from another farmer! But still, hmmm...

blu_sonic

Fair play to him if he feels its the right thing to do then it is the right thing to do

homah_7ft

I think it's nice to see a catholic living up to his beliefs.

FlutterinBantam

Would youse boys like to own a site in the next field????

Tha Gopher

Anyone watch a documentary on BBC2 the other night about how Irish travellers have settled on a few acres next to a village in Essex? They bought the land and theres now 1000 of them living there, mostly in caravans or illegally built housing. The locals are trying to force them out, given the upsurge in crime and anti social behaviour due to it. Of course they took their usual fcuk the settled people attitude, one even suggesting that if one long time resident didnt like them HE should move. They were also demanding accomadation yada yada yada from the council.

Normally yid be off the opinion of let them fcuk off back home. Then you remember that Ireland is their home, and if the council and police in Essex is prepared to financially support these people let them. Less of my tax spent.

It was hilarious to see them marching on London with a pile of placards reading such hilarious typos as "stop the avikshuns" (evictions):D

They were meant to be evicted in May of last year. The programme kicked off showing the night before the deadline, with lads making incendiary booby traps with gas canisters for when the baliffs arrived. However, May came and went and there was no eviction, and the programme didnt even have an epilogue of what happened later. Are they still camped there?

Sam Vimes

FlutterinBantam wrote:

Will there be a place for the old fridges??

just about every probably. i bet the population of boards a euro each that they'll destroy the land and then move off it long enough for the taxes they don't pay to clean it up

also, completely coincidentally, violent crimes and burglaries etc will skyrocket in the area. discrimination me arse

Commander Vimes wrote:

just about every probably. i bet the population of boards a euro each that they'll destroy the land and then move off it long enough for the taxes they don't pay to clean it up

also, completely coincidentally, violent crimes and burglaries etc will skyrocket in the area. discrimination me arse

Exactly, they'll just destroy the place as they do with everywhere they camp and leave a mess behind them for someone else to clean up.

From what I've seen the majority of travellers are nothing but trouble, if I lived anywhere near that field that they're getting I'd move.

Think about the people who'll have to live beside that, their own house prices will drop (noone wants to live beside a travellers camp) and I'm sure the crime rate will increase.
Sure enough it was a nice gesture but he doesn't seem to have thought about everyone else who'll have to deal with them.