Agreement reached to remove controversial barrier at Dunsink

The controversial barrier at Dunsink Lane in Finglas, Dublin, is to be removed under an agreement reached between Travellers' representatives, local authorities and the Garda.

The deal was agreed during a three-hour meeting last night.

A new temporary barrier will be placed at the other end of Dunsink Lane. It will be positioned near the entrance to the old landfill site, to deal with illegal dumping, pending a permanent resolution by the end of next January.

The Dunsink Travellers have called off their protest as a result of the agreement. The Travellers' representatives, Dublin City and Fingal County Councils and the Garda have called for the end of the ongoing disturbances and anti-social behaviour in the area.

The original barrier was installed last Tuesday by the local authorities who said it was necessary to block off Dunsink Lane in order to deal with illegal dumping. Its erection led to strong protests by local Travellers living on Dunsink Lane who said it was forcing them to take a much longer, alternative route to get to shops and schools in Finglas. The protests interfered with traffic and led to disturbances and anti-social behaviour in Dunsink for the past four evenings.

The existing barrier will be removed and the new barrier installed at the other end of the lane within the next week.

The new barrier will remain in place until "agreed new engineering works are put in place to restrict illegal dumping in the lane", which work is expected to happen by the end of January, according to the terms of the two paragraph agreement.

After the meeting at Dublin City Council headquarters, Mr Martin Collins, a representative for the Dunsink Travellers' Movement, welcomed the deal as "very significant progress".

He said the protest had been called off and added: "From the bottom of my heart I apologise to the motoring public and to the public at large" for the inconvenience and delays caused by the protest, but they were "forced into that situation".

The removal of the existing barrier would allow families access to shops and schools, he said. He hoped the barrier at the other end would be removed by the end of January.

Dublin City Council's assistant manager, Mr Matt Twomey, who also attended the talks, welcomed the deal and said they believed that "working together as a partnership, we can achieve these aims". Asked if the protests and disturbances could have been avoided if the authorities had consulted Travellers beforehand, Mr Twomey said that "hindsight is great. The short answer is we don't know."

He added, however, that they had now established a good working relationship and they hoped to have all the necessary work done by the end of January and to work together on other issues.