House bought for Travellers badly damaged by ‘suspicious’ fire - Ireland

From fecktv.com

A €230,000 house bought by Donegal County Council for a family of 12 Travellers has been all but destroyed by a fire in the early hours of this morning. The Fire Brigade were called to the property in Parkhill, Ballyshannon, shortly after 3am. The property itself, which is a detached dormer bungalow, was thankfully unoccupied at the time.

Gardaí have said that they are treating the fire as suspicious, and experts are examining the scene for clues as to how the blaze began. The purchase of the house by the council for social housing was a particularly controversial decision in the first place, and drew condemnation from some other local residents.

Donegal Travellers Project commented on the fire saying “Donegal Travellers Project was shocked, saddened, and outraged about the house in South Donegal which was burned to the ground in the early hours of this morning, allegedly as a result of arson…We are also extremely upset for the family of 12 who were supposed to move into the house”. They suggested that there had been a hardening of attitudes against Travellers in Donegal over the last few weeks, and said “We are asking all political parties and representatives to come together to address this emergency in Donegal and to identify as a matter of urgency appropriate housing for this family and other families living in inappropriate conditions”.

Traveller support group Pavee Point have also made a statement on the fire. As well as signalling their disgust at the “arson” and calling on Garda for protection of families and property, they said “This is the third such time arson has happened following public knowledge of the allocation of houses to Traveller families in recent years”. The group praised the Council’s initial decision to buy and allocate the house, but called on Councillor’s to make clear their condemnation of the attack and be ‘more responsible’ in their public comments in relation to Travellers. That was no doubt a nod to the comments of Fianna Fail councillor Sean McEniff on the original purchase of the house.

Not black and white

The problem is that this whole situation is in no way black and white. There are opposing sides to be sure, and certainly if the fire does prove to be arson, that is an entirely reprehensible act which rightly should be condemned, but passions are running high. I can understand the point of view of groups like Pavee Point and Travellers in general, many of whom are desperately poor and giving them social housing is a civic duty. However, I also understand the opposing side that believes that buying such an expensive house for social housing is a slap in the face for other local property owners.

If the argument was simply about social housing, and many residents made clear that it was, then I think there is a fair point to be made that buying a luxury house was wrong. However there is the Traveller element here, and if the fire was started to stop that social/ethnic group from moving in, then that’s racism and that’s entirely wrong. A difficult one to judge where to go with this, and the council, local residents and Traveller groups will need to come together and work on some form of compromise. Without a free and frank discussion about the issues people have, then unfortunately the inclination people have towards idiotic and criminal acts such as this one increases.

see also: The Donegal Democrat - Donegal Travellers Project “shocked, saddened and outraged” by fire

Donegaldaily.com - BURNED TO THE GROUND: €230,000 HOUSE COUNCIL BOUGHT FOR TRAVELLER FAMILY

Irish Times - House fire believed to be arson

Independent.ie - Arson suspected as house for Travellers destroyed