GAGGED: CLLR McENIFF WARNED BY PARTY BOSSES TO STOP MAKING COMMENTS ON TRAVELLERS - Ireland

From Donegal Daily

Exclusive: FIANNA Fail has silenced Donegal county councillor Sean McEniff, Donegal Daily can reveal.

Party leader Micheal Martin has told Cllr McEniff that he can’t make any more comments about Travellers.

The Donegal Traveller Project confirmed to us today that Mr Martin had told them that he had spoken to the veteran Donegal politician and warned him that he cannot make any further ‘derogatory’ comments about Travellers.

The councillor sparked a political storm last month by saying Travellers should not be re-housed in settled communities and they should live in isolation.

A few days later a house at Parkhill, outside Ballyshannon which the council was in the processing of buying, was burned down in an arson attack.

A family of 12 had been due to move into the property.

It has also emerged that councillors including Cllr McEniff and Cllr Barry O’Neill had been made aware weeks ago that the council had intended to buy a property for a Traveller family in the Parkhill area.

Traveller groups were also informed.

Last night we reported what County Manager Seamus Neely said on the matter.

It is re-printed below; including with details on how councillors were kept informed of the process before the purchase decision was taken in December.

“I believe that the time is now right for me as a county manager to re-affirm the council’s position with regard to social inclusion policies and measures and to outline some of the very significant work an initiatives the council has delivered on as a lead agency,” said Mr Neely.

“Donegal County Council has been proactively engaged in promoting interculturalism, diversity and integration through our work with the Donegal County Development Board (CDB), the CDB social inclusion measures group and the CDB interagency group on Traveller issues and the CDB peace and reconciliation partnership and we are fully committed to continuing with this work.

“In this regard Donegal County Council is committed to continuing to work with all stakeholders to ensure that all Travellers in Donegal have an opportunity to achieve their fill potential in all aspects of their lives.”

He said the council’s own diversity plan included policies which were anti-racist and anti-sectarian and were aimed at promoting greater integration at a local level with communities.

Mr Neely said the council policy included policies on dealing with conflicts between settled and traveller communities.

He detailed extensively the work the council does with the Local Traveller Accommodation Consultative Committee.

He said the Donegal Electoral Area councillors had been told in workshops about the purchase of a house in Ballyshannon for the family concerned and while the specific dwelling was not disclosed “details were provided as to the actual settings within which the dwelling in question was located.”