A hidden world, where our children can't have friends over - Ireland

From the Cork Independent

In the last few weeks there has been a lot of coverage in the media about the Spring Lane halting site near Ballyvolane, as the site residents and local Traveller organisations campaign to bring the dire living conditions on site out of the shadows. Considering that almost 2 out of 3 people living on site are children under 18 years (over 90 children live on Spring Lane), this week we have decided to look at what life on Spring Lane is like for Theresa who is 9 years old.

Theresa’s mum Linda McCarthy is a lone mother with 6 children. Linda grew up on Spring Lane with her own parents and siblings. Linda’s two-bedroom mobile home is parked on sand and gravel, on an un-serviced plot shared by three other families. The mobile was donated by the Saint Vincent de Paul in 2012 after Cork City Council refused to replace the old cramped and unsuitable one-bedroom caravan the family lived in at the time. Soaking in puddles of rainwater, extension leads run from an overloaded electricity box across the other side of the bay into Linda’s window. Linda has no running water, no toilets or shower, and she and her children use the toilet and running water from her brother’s bay, which already accommodates a family of 10 people. Before Christmas 2012, Linda asked Cork City Council if they could help plumb up the indoor toilet and the sink so the family could have a toilet and running water in time for the holiday. She was refused assistance, and told that if CCC did for her, they would have to do it for everyone.

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