You can put any word into the above phrase. “I am not a racist but…,” ” I am not a biggot but…” and then it will be followed by some derogetory statment belying the words which immediately preceded it. It is a typically Irish thing.
Councillor Noreen Ryan did this this week in an interview with that bastian of truth and accuracy the Limerick Post when she was commenting on a recent court case which Limerick County Council lost against two traveller families. The two families, The O’Reilly and Conway families brought the council to court after they were threatened with eviction from the side of the road. The two families claimed that they had tried to get accomodated at the halting site in Kilmallock, however as the site was full, they were refused a place. The supreme court ruled that the families were legally entitled to be accomodated by the county council under the Traveller Accomodation Act.
However Cllr Noreen Ryan has displayed her true feelings for the travelling community by making irrelevant statements, probably in the hope of wooing the underlying attitude of her electorate towards members of the travelling community, a minority which has been discriminated against by members of the settled community in Ireland for centuries.
While denying that she was anti-traveller, while supposedly commenting on the case in question she went off on a rant about how she was sick of seeing “well-dressed travellers” and made other generalisations about the community.
“No member of the settled community has had the privilage of having a houses designed by the local authority to their own specifications and paid for by the taxpayer.” said Ms Ryan.
What Noreen Ryan forgets is that local authority tennants who are wheelchair bound would often have houses and extentions to houses designed to meet their needs, and the bill would indeed go to the tax payer. Not to mention the fact that the two families were not looking for houses but were looking for bays on a halting site. The article states that Limerick County Council allocated the families houses, which were not what they were looking for.
Ms Ryan, stating then went on a little rant which had nothing to do with the case being reported.
“I am sick of seeing well dressed members of the travelling community driving high powered cars, vans, and four-wheel drives.”
But Ms Ryan never stated whether or not the two families in question were in posession of such vehicles.
Miss Ryan also stated that she would be campaigning to have existing traveller legislation amended to remove what she called “discrimination against settled people.”
I would have this to say about Noreen Ryan’s views on travellers. It is all well and good ranting and raving about “allocating homes” to travellers, but that is not what they were looking for. If Limerick City Council offered me a four bedroom house in the morning, I would refuse it, why? because I am a single person and there is a large family somewhere in the city that could use it.
The same should apply for Limerick County Council. If the families were looking for a halting site bay, then efforts should have been made to provide them with one, especially as they were living on the side of the road. They were not looking for a house, therefore it was pointless providing one.
This is a most disturbing development in my opinion. I might be in a minority when it comes to traveller issues, but to pander to people’s bigotted views when it comes to travelling people is pretty sick. Shame on you Noreen, I am so disappointed in you.
I gave Noreen Ryan full praise when it was announced that she would be running for Fianna Fail in the next election. Now I am beginning to wonder, would Eddie Wade have been a better choice after all.
