A traveller woman who became unhappy in settled accommodation and moved into a caravan on the site of a council storage depot in Co Dublin has been ordered by the High Court not to trespass on the lands.
However, Mr Justice O'Sullivan yesterday put a stay on his order relating to Mrs Mary Cawley until three weeks after Fingal County Council had arranged halting site accommodation for her.
The council had sought an injunction restraining Mrs Cawley from trespassing on lands owned by the council, and used as a storage depot, at Lissenhall, Swords.
The court was told Mrs Cawley had been given a house at Mourne View, Skerries, Co Dublin, where she and her family had lived for more than 20 years. However, she had moved a caravan on to lands housing the storage depot at Lissenhall in June last year and had remained there despite requests to leave, it was claimed. Her husband and some of her nine children remained in the house.
In an affidavit, Mr Charles Downey, executive engineer with the council, said that Mrs Cawley's caravan severely reduced the depot's storage capacity.
A barrister for the council said the law provided that a Section 10 "moving on" notice could be served once adequate accommodation could be provided. In this case, no Section 10 notice had been served, and the council was moving by plenary summons.
She said Mrs Cawley already had adequate accommodation available to her through the house in Skerries. She could go on the list for halting site accommodation and be dealt with in the normal manner, but she was not a priority.
In an affidavit, Mrs Cawley agreed that she had been a tenant of the council for many years and had been allocated a house in Skerries. She said she was told she could move into the house on a temporary basis. She did not wish to live in the house, but on a properly-serviced halting site. She had had talks about this with the council, but these had broken down.
Mr Greg O'Neill, solicitor for Mrs Cawley, asked the judge to use his discretion not to make an order against her. He said the council was seeking to circumvent the Section 10 procedure. His client came from a nomadic family and was entitled to halting site accommodation.
Mr Justice O'Sullivan said the council was correct in principle. The court could not allow a trespass to continue. However, he would put a stay on the order restraining trespass until three weeks from the date at which halting site accommodation was made available to Mrs Cawley.
