A HIGH Court judge has dismissed an application for an order to prevent a family of 10 Travellers from taking up residence at a house in Co Tipperary.
Yesterday, Mr Justice Peter Charleton rejected the application brought by residents of Cullinagh, Ballina, Co Tipperary to take proceedings against North Tipperary County Council over its decision to buy a house that it intends to lease to a family at Cullinagh.
The judge said he was rejecting the application on grounds including that all citizens have a constitutional right to be housed.
The dwelling had been the subject of a blockade by residents after they learned the local authority had purchased it with a view to renting it to the O'Reilly family.
The judge said he was satisfied to refuse the application to grant the residents leave to take judicial review against the council's decision to enter into a tenancy agreement with the family.
The residents were seeking to have that order quashed on the grounds that the decision to provide the house for the family was illegal because it did not comply with the council's Travellers' accommodation programme.
The judge further rejected the residents' application for an interim injunction that would have prohibited the council from entering into a tenancy agreement with the family until the action had been determined by the High Court.
The court heard the residents had brought the action on grounds including that the council had not complied with its accommodation programme.
The residents claimed the programme had provisions for housing to be provided for Travellers from the local authority's own standard housing stock and in group schemes.
Housing can also be provided in rural areas on a standalone basis, or the local authority can also provide loans to be used to buy houses.
The residents argued that there was no provision in the council's programme that allowed the provision of housing for Travellers in an urban area, which was the case in this instance, and that the dwelling in Cullinagh did not fall into any of the provisions in the programme.
It was also claimed that the programme states that local authorities are obliged to consult with various groups, including members of the local community, in relation to provision of housing to Travellers.
In an affidavit to the court, the residents claimed that the first the local community knew about the situation was in late August, and that no prior consultation had taken place between them and the council.
The court also heard that the O'Reilly family had been living in the Ballina area in mobile accommodation, and had turned down an offer of accommodation at another location in the county.
In his judgment, the judge said that the action was being taken as if the family in question were "different to anybody else".
"It is my view that they are not," said the judge, adding that Travellers have as much right to be housed as he does.