'Traveller housing not wanted here,' say locals

LilyCricket · 08-04-2012 01:09AM

I have seen the disrespect they have for the environment & how badly they treat it. Thats the main reason I would not like to have them set up near my home.

Johro · 08-04-2012 01:13AM

There's a fair few settled travellers live near me, most are sound enough, some are anti-social f#ckers. Much like the rest of the neighbourhood. I avoid the ones I've had arguments with and get on fine with the rest, in fact I'm invited to a traveller wedding

.
When we had that bad winter I got snowed in, and the traveller guy down the road checked to see if I needed coal or anything else from the shop, I got him to get me some milk and bread, teabags, few things. He got them and wouldn't take any money off me, saying 'sure we're neighbours'. I think a lot of people have problems with travellers coz they start out treating them as 'scumbags', I'd rather give them a chance before I judge them. I'm not denying some are bad news, but the ones that are bad news are known, and so easily enough avoided.

LilyCricket · 08-04-2012 01:15AM

Johro wrote: »

There's a fair few settled travellers live near me, most are sound enough, some are anti-social f#ckers. Much like the rest of the neighbourhood. I avoid the ones I've had arguments with and get on fine with the rest, in fact I'm invited to a traveller wedding .
When we had that bad winter I got snowed in, and the traveller guy down the road checked to see if I needed coal or anything else from the shop, I got him to get me some milk and bread, teabags, few things. He got them and wouldn't take any money off me, saying 'sure we're neighbours'. I think a lot of people have problems with travellers coz they start out treating them as 'scumbags', I'd rather give them a chance before I judge them. I'm not denying some are bad news, but the ones that are bad news are known, and so easily enough avoided.[/QUOTE]

not if they're put living beside you,

Johro · 08-04-2012 01:19AM

LilyCricket wrote: »

I have seen the disrespect they have for the environment & how badly they treat it. Thats the main reason I would not like to have them set up near my home.

Yup, my main gripe with local travellers has been about them throwing their rubbish around, but let's not pretend they're the only ones doing it. Irish country roads have got to be some of the worst in Europe for bags of rubbish, old cookers/fridges/sofa's the lot. Plastic bottles, crisp wrappers, cans etc are everywhere and just about everyone does it.

Johro · 08-04-2012 01:28AM

LilyCricket wrote: »

Johro wrote: »

There's a fair few settled travellers live near me, most are sound enough, some are anti-social f#ckers. Much like the rest of the neighbourhood. I avoid the ones I've had arguments with and get on fine with the rest, in fact I'm invited to a traveller wedding .
When we had that bad winter I got snowed in, and the traveller guy down the road checked to see if I needed coal or anything else from the shop, I got him to get me some milk and bread, teabags, few things. He got them and wouldn't take any money off me, saying 'sure we're neighbours'. I think a lot of people have problems with travellers coz they start out treating them as 'scumbags', I'd rather give them a chance before I judge them. I'm not denying some are bad news, but the ones that are bad news are known, and so easily enough avoided.[/QUOTE]

not if they're put living beside you,

My nearest neighbours are settled travellers and I've no problems at all with them. The youngest lad was a pest for a while, driving up and down the road like a f#ckin maniac, but that stopped after I complained about it to his father, and the lad's a bit older now and less stupid. I found if you can just talk to them without prejudice you're the most likely to not get trouble. If you're civil with them and they're not, by all means complain or call the guards or the council or whatever, but don't just write them off coz they're travellers is all.

LilyCricket · 08-04-2012 01:30AM

Johro wrote: »

LilyCricket wrote: »

My nearest neighbours are settled travellers and I've no problems at all with them. The youngest lad was a pest for a while, driving up and down the road like a f#ckin maniac, but that stopped after I complained about it to his father, and the lad's a bit older now and less stupid. I found if you can just talk to them without prejudice you're the most likely to not get trouble. If you're civil with them and they're not, by all means complain or call the guards or the council or whatever, but don't just write them off coz they're travellers is all.

I certainly would not write them off

I would just chose to not have them living beside me, is all

Dudess · 08-04-2012 01:36AM

If they're causing mayhem, asking them to stop/avoiding them won't do much.
My neighbours are travellers too and they're grand - although they briefly caused a bit of sh1t at the start. But no probs at all now. They're pretty sound.
However a whole bunch of families - nothing wrong with having apprehension re this.

Johro · 08-04-2012 01:50AM

Dudess wrote: »

If they're causing mayhem, asking them to stop/avoiding them won't do much.
My neighbours are travellers too and they're grand - although they briefly caused a bit of sh1t at the start. But no probs at all now. They're pretty sound.
However a whole bunch of families - nothing wrong with having apprehension re this.

Fair enough. Guards in that case. Just saying though, when I had a complaint I talked to them first, and they appreciated I could've called the guards. Most people would call the guards first. My point really is that if you start off on a bad foot you got no chance.

Dudess · 08-04-2012 01:56AM

Your complaint wasn't a serious one - I agree, if you feel you can talk to them, go for that rather than something more drastic - but if it's really serious, intimidating stuff, that's just going by the behaviour, not writing them off due to being travellers.

Spread · 08-04-2012 02:25AM

Does the council propose to put wheels under the said houses? If not, then the prospective tenants should change their sobriquet or GTFO!

Dudess · 08-04-2012 02:40AM

strobe wrote: »

Dudess wrote: »

If they're causing mayhem, asking them to stop/avoiding them won't do much.
My neighbours are travellers too and they're grand - although they briefly caused a bit of sh1t at the start. But no probs at all now. They're pretty sound.
However a whole bunch of families - nothing wrong with having apprehension re this.

*Travellers* is a code for ni[COLOR="Black"]g[/COLOR]gers, right?

:pac:

I happily defend travellers who don't deserve to be tarred with the anti traveller brush, but I'm not gonna be disingenuous and fail to acknowledge there are serious problems very prevalent in traveller culture. "I'm not racist but" dig forthcoming I suspect.

lividduck · 08-04-2012 07:41AM

So long as the locals don't do this
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/travellers-faced-threats-before-home-set-on-fire-3074317.html

irelandspurs · 08-04-2012 07:48AM

They have put them in our estate in empty houses,within a week the kids started smashing everything and abusing people and the adults are either filling other peoples bins with rubbish chucking it into empty gardens or burning it,all you can smell all day is burning plastic.

We have a traveller family next door to us and we knew they were moving there before they got there and other neighbours complained,i gave them the benefit of the doubt and they are actually a nice family,I've helped him fix his car and let him use the lawnmower etc.

TwoShedsJackson · 08-04-2012 08:35AM

hondasam wrote: »

Where are the council getting the money to build houses?

From the taxpayer of course. In fact I hear they specifically used your taxes to start building a couple of them.

That Ballisodare development is a disgrace.

Arnold Layne · 08-04-2012 09:49AM

hondasam wrote: »

Where are the council getting the money to build houses?

Probably from the proceeds of the household charge which the travellers will never pay

luckyfrank · 08-04-2012 09:54AM

lets be honest nobody wants travellers beside them............. bringing attention to yourself for the household charge

mikemac1 · 08-04-2012 10:02AM

stovelid wrote: »

Isn't everybody in Sligo a traveler?

That's Tuam

MagicSean · 08-04-2012 10:19AM

There's something i just don't get. Traveller groups are lobbying for travellers to be recognised as a distince ethnic group with their own culture. But as soon as someone recognises them as a distinct ethnic group with a culture of thieving and poor education then they go up in arms and say they should be treated the same. Are we only expected to recognise the happy sunshine side of their culture?

Smeggy · 08-04-2012 10:32AM

Speaking as someone who's only ever had bad experiences with travellers I have to say I'd kick up a massive fuss if they wanted to live within 10 miles of my house!!

For example, in my local village once a year in August the travellers come from around the country to have a "horse fair".. They literally shut the town down for three days (so local people can't even drive up the street and have to detour out the countryside), they pile up their rubbish on the street, tools, toys, furniture etc.. they tie the horses onto the green. Pubs, the hotel and shops close for the day and probably a few nights beforehand as well. Then amazingly they vanish into thin air during the night leaving a clean up bill of about ten grand at last count.... All year round the people in the town invest a lot of time and effort into the tidy towns and they are simply allowed to come and destroy the place and waste that kind of money cleaning up after them, it really annoys me! :mad:

What makes me laugh however is the show The Truth About Travellers, they're so "respectful" and have such "great morals and traditions" it could'nt be further from the truth.. Give me a break!!

MagicSean · 08-04-2012 10:38AM

Smeggy wrote: »

Speaking as someone who's only ever had bad experiences with travellers I have to say I'd kick up a massive fuss if they wanted to live within 10 miles of my house!!

For example, in my local village once a year in August the travellers come from around the country to have a "horse fair".. They literally shut the town down for three days (so local people can't even drive up the street and have to detour out the countryside), they pile up their rubbish on the street, tools, toys, furniture etc.. they tie the horses onto the green. Pubs, the hotel and shops close for the day and probably a few nights beforehand as well. Then amazingly they vanish into thin air during the night leaving a clean up bill of about ten grand at last count.... All year round the people in the town invest a lot of time and effort into the tidy towns and they are simply allowed to come and destroy the place and waste that kind of money cleaning up after them, it really annoys me! :mad:

What makes me laugh however is the show The Truth About Travellers, they're so "respectful" and have such "great morals and traditions" it could'nt be further from the truth.. Give me a break!!

That show was sickeningly false.

http://meathchronicle.ie/news/navan/articles/2011/07/01/4005287-navan-gardai-braced-for-escalation-of-feud/print

This feud was going on at the time. You'll notice the names and locations of the people involved match those who were on the show.

bnt · 08-04-2012 10:44AM

I get the impression that "travellers" could be accepted in to polite society if they changed their behaviour e.g. not trashing the local environment wherever they land. If they did change, and settle down, would they still be "travellers"? So the open questions I have include the following. What is a "traveller"? What is in store for them in the future, if they carry on as they currently do? What do they need to change to secure their future?

I sometimes do "thought experiments" like this, but hesitate to talk about them, because some don't get the idea of a "thought experiment" and think that they reflect my actual opinion, or that I'm suggesting certain actions, which I am not.

So my "thought experiment" today is: if all "travellers" were to vanish off the face of the planet tomorrow, what would the impact be on Ireland? Would it be good, or bad? I don't know, but if the answer is "no impact" or "good", I think it's time for the "traveller" community to ask themselves some harsh questions about the impact they have on this country, and then do something positive to mend it.

Freddie59 · 08-04-2012 10:47AM

baldbear wrote: »

Racists.

Realists?

Freddie59 · 08-04-2012 10:49AM

LilyCricket wrote: »

I'll be honest myself, I would not like a traveller site built beside me where I live.

Not in a million years.

Same here. We have one about a mile away on the outer ring road. The daily grind usually consists of horse shyte on the footpaths (when dog owners can be fined for leaving a lot less) and sulky races on a dual carriageway.

Ireland in the 21st century. A bloody farce.

Freddie59 · 08-04-2012 10:50AM

Chuck Stone wrote: »

That's why the councils are trying to house Travellers in one off housing in the country but people are extremely hostile to this too.

Understandably.

Dubit10 · 08-04-2012 10:55AM

:pac: Irish people are the best, the same people who would die of shock if you called every Nigerian in the country "scammers" feel it's okay to label all travellers scum or the such. Loltastic

Freddie59 · 08-04-2012 11:09AM

votecounts wrote: »

Same could be said about members of the settled community.

As one who suffered at the hands of a "settled" scumbag I concur. But I would again pose the question: what is the ratio of scumbags to civilised people in BOTH groups?

mikemac1 · 08-04-2012 11:13AM

So this is where councils are spending the money and now they want more from the household charge

Sure, give them accomadation but what odds there will be a feud and within a few months the houses will be empty at best or at worst they'll be burned to the ground

I'm sure there are others on the Sligo housing list who need the accomadation more and would be only delighted for a council house

Freddie59 · 08-04-2012 11:14AM

votecounts wrote: »

A lot of this is due to locals being greedy "oh no, this will knock more money off my house mentality". While forgetting that members of the settled community can be the biggest tools, criminals, bullys, etc
Reaps of racism.

Not really. Would you like a modern traveller family next to you? As one who was reared in a council Street around the corner from a traveller family some 40-odd years ago, I can speak from experience. We were very lucky. The family were the salt of the Earth. But I'm sure others weren't so lucky. Thus the negativity and suspicion.

A few of them called to our door on Friday, stating they were "working on behalf of the neighbours":rolleyes: power hosing driveways. When I said no, an aggressive streak developed. Grand - I could tell them to eff off and they left. What if it were an elderly person living on their own?

I can certainly see why people could be up in arms. There is a also a rightful perception that the positive discrimination in favour of travellers is almost a reverse discrimination on the normal community.

08-04-2012 11:26AM

They're just like settled folk. There's nice ones and ar$eholes.

When I was a kid (about 12/13) there was a traveller in my class who was about 15. He was much bigger, and pretty much illiterate. One day, I was sitting outside the principals office (can't remember what for) and so was he. I had felt threatened by him (stereotyping, the size of him etc.) Anyway, turns out he couldn't do basic subtraction. I showed him how to, and became a little bit of a tutor for him. He left that year, but he was able to add and subtract.

Fast forward 3 years, there was a "war" going on between my council estate and another on the far side of town. I ended up getting hopped on by 4 of the lads from the other estate and properly got the $hit kicked out of me. As I was getting the hiding of my life, the traveller from all those years ago passed by, saw what was going on, leapt in and fought the lads on my behalf. He knocked 7 shades of $hit out of them. As I lay there, blood everywhere, he picked me up and carried me home. Where my mam called the ambulance for me

Moral of the story: be prejudiced all you want, but karma works and you never know when it'll be repaid.

Kaner2004 · 08-04-2012 11:31AM

I was brought up on a council estate with a couple of halting sites within spitting distance, and a few settled travellers taking up some of the houses in the estate.
I had contact with them all my life, from school on, until I was about 25, even working with some of them on sites.
I can honestly say that I never met even one of them, who I would take my eye off with something valuable, or even remotely valuable around.

One became a friend for about 6 months when we were in school, and then my mum came home to find him and his brother in our house stealing the bill money. They had spotted a weak window lock while in my house one day and took advantage the minute they got the chance, on a Friday when the bill money was all in the cupboard. Thats what you get for letting them close.

The amount of times I actually saw them stealing stuff on building sites they and i were working on, and then I told the foreman or whoever. When they knew they were caught they just give it back and say they were only joking, and that was always the end of it. Any attempts to follow up were met with cries of racist, to whatever person was trying to deal with them.

Please, let them stay in someone elses backyard, far away from mine for a change.

'Traveller housing not wanted here,' say locals

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