Traveller campsite at Sugar Loaf irks Wicklow council

The annual travellers' summer camp on the shoulder of the Sugar Loaf mountain in Co Wicklow has resulted in the beauty spot "looking as if an aeroplane had crashed and strewn litter and debris in a one-mile radius", according to Wicklow County Council.

The council said it was powerless to evict the travellers, some of whom have been on the site for six months, because they are camped on commonage which is "owned by nobody or everybody".

For the last number of years the travellers have established a campsite during the summer in the vicinity of the visitors' car park, a popular access point for climbers and walkers heading for the summit.

Yesterday morning there were 37 caravans, four lorries and a large number of vans parked at the site. Most of the vehicles were registered in the United Kingdom, with about one-third bearing Republic of Ireland number plates.

Some dumping of builders' rubble and tarmac had taken place and a trench dug by the county council in an attempt to secure the car park had been filled with domestic refuse.

Three travellers who agreed to speak to The Irish Times denied responsibility for the dumping. Referring to the domestic waste, they said there was simply too much for them to clear up, as the local community regularly used the site for dumping.

The travellers, who declined to be named, were adamant that they had nothing to do with the dumping of rubble, although they said they could not speak for the owners of the lorries on the site. They insisted they had seen a haulier dumping in the area.

The travellers said they had a "traditional right" to camp on the Sugar Loaf in summer, but added that they would be gone by the end of the month.

Mr Michael Nicholson, the acting Wicklow County Secretary, said the council could not provide refuse skips as it could not be seen to be endorsing the camp.

The council had dug trenches in front of the car park and placed boulders to protect the commonage, but these had been removed.

"It's hideous and it happens every year. The Sugar Loaf is inaccessible for those who want to climb, while no tourist would be inclined to park there. We are powerless, though, and until the law is changed we will be faced with a massive bill each September for the clean-up."

Mr Shay Fitzmaurice, spokesman for the Bray Chamber of Commerce, said his organisation had "consistently called on local public representatives to introduce legislation so that the council could effect the removal [of travellers] from premier tourist sites". Mr Fitzmaurice said, however, that he felt there was some action the council could take under the litter laws. "If you or I decided to camp up there and made such a mess, we would be prosecuted," he said.

Insisting that the impact on tourism was very severe, Mr Fitzmaurice said a Belgian tourist and his family had attempted to camp on the Sugar Loaf, mistaking the site for an unauthorised holiday facility. He was told by the travellers he would have to pay to stay the night before he realised they were "as he said, gypsies".

In a separate development, travellers who had parked illegally in Knock Shrine's car park for the past week left the area yesterday, following the intervention of the local parish priest, Mgr Dominic Grealy.