Travellers occupy field beside Brittas Bay

A group of more than 70 Travellers who were moved on from Greystones, Co Wicklow, by gardaí yesterday after illegally occupying a seafront car park, have taken over a field adjacent to Brittas Bay beach.

The Travellers, with more than 20 mobile homes and vans, said they intend to stay on the south Wicklow property until Saturday, when they journey to Wales for a wedding,

However, the owner of the field, former Fianna Fáil councillor Basil Phelan, said the Travellers were occupying his land illegally and he had asked them to leave.

Mr Phelan arrived at his field shortly after 4.30pm yesterday, some two hours after the Travellers moved onto his land.

They had earlier attempted to occupy the car park of the South Beach opposite Mr Phelan's field but were prevented from doing so by metal barriers.

A small group of men from the encampment approached Mr Phelan on his arrival and in the presence of local gardaí offered him €100 a caravan a night to remain on his land until Saturday.

Mr Phelan refused the sum, which would have amounted to approximately €8,000 for the remainder of the week.

"There was a locked chain on this gate. What they have done is illegal. They have broken that chain and taken it away and they have broken the law. I have asked them to leave because they are here illegally without my express permission."

Mr Phelan said he could not accept their offer because his insurance would not cover them. "The next step would be that they would sue me after having an accident on the land or that they would ask me for money to leave the land." He added that he had not been asked for any money by the Travellers.

Local gardaí at the scene said Mr Phelan would have to apply for an injunction to have the Travellers moved on. Mr Phelan said he would be consulting his solicitor and would make a decision on the matter by this morning.

Known colloquially by gardaí as the "Rathkeale Rovers", the Travellers are mainly families from Limerick, along with some from Northern Ireland and Scotland.

They arrived in Greystones on Saturday and occupied the seafront car park. Following a number of complaints from residents, gardaí issued a summons to the Travellers on Monday. They left the site yesterday morning, leaving no rubbish or other debris behind them.

After leaving the car park they moved into the Charlesland area on the outskirts of the town, where new houses are being built.

Builders blockaded the convoy on the new M11 link road while they sealed off the entrances to their sites with cars and construction equipment to stop the Travellers entering.

There was speculation that the Travellers were paid money by one construction company to leave the area. However, both the site foremen and the Travellers deny this.

The Travellers spent an hour driving around south Wicklow before settling at Brittas Bay.

The Travellers say they are on holiday and are bringing money into the local shops and pubs. They said they intend to keep Mr Phelan's field in good condition and reiterated they were willing to pay for the use of his land.

"We always leave places perfect after us. Nobody is ever able to say that we don't," Kathleen Reilly from Limerick said. "If we know that we could stay here we would bring in skips and portable toilets. We're not looking for charity."