"They just told us 'take it or leave it'. They told us there'd be plenty of others who would take the houses if we didn't," says Ms Kathleen Maughan.Ballymun Regeneration Limited (BRL), she says, effectively told the 276 Travellers like herself, currently living in the over-crowded St Margaret's halting site, that whether they liked the housing being offered or not, there would be no alternative.
Some 21 houses are planned for some of the Travellers of Poppintree, although 42 Traveller families signed up for regeneration housing in 2001. The houses that are planned will face onto the back wall of an industrial centre, without a play area and with very little parking.
"The houses take no account of the Traveller way of life, with not enough bedrooms and no parking for our vans," says Ms Maughan
Some of the St Margaret's Travellers cite Traveller housing projects in Finglas and Coolock as more suitable, with dwellings tailored to suit Traveller requirements for van parking.
The BRL plans also envisage the destruction of three of St Margaret's bays, including that of an elderly man (67), who, says Ms Maughan, "doesn't want to move".
Mr Ciarán Murray, managing director of BRL, says there has been "a lot of misunderstanding in relation to the Travellers project".
"At all stages through drawing it up there was strong consultation and strong support. It was only when it got to the tendering process, all of a sudden there was concern at it. In relation to the proposals, the houses are based on Traveller family sizes and the majority are four-bed units. It has been suggested that there should be external space for caravans, but with land at a premium we were just not in a position to provide that."
He said numerous Traveller families had agreed to the planned houses.
Residents at St Margarets, however, said the few consultation meetings were poorly attended as their "format did not help".
"Residents did not understand the language and some had very low literacy skills," said a spokesman. "In general they were not fully aware of the implications of the housing plan. Some live in bad conditions and were afraid of not getting any other house in the future."