NAAS & THE CURRAGH, 8 October: by Trish Whelan. The latest traveller incursions in mid-Kildare began at the weekend when a group of caravans were parked on Saturday evenings in Tesco’s car park in Naas (above).
Though moved on by gardai, they ended up in the Curragh Race Course compound later on the weekend, after apparently spending some time in the Palmerstown lay-by, which had just been cleaned up by Kildare County Council following occupation by a group of travellers recently.
Sgt Martin Whitty of Naas Garda Station told KNN that the travellers had given an undertaking to leave Tesco by early Sunday morning and return to the Rathkeale area and to Belfast. “But we had to go back at 11am Sunday morning as they had not gone,” he said on Sunday.
He said once the supermarket had opened for business on Sunday morning it then became a public place and the travellers were committing offences obstructing traffic. He said they went ‘quietly’ in the end, and added that it ‘could well be the case that they had sought money to move on but as far as we are aware no money changed hands’.
A spokesperson for Tesco said they could not confirm or deny that they had been asked for money.
About 30-35 caravans have been occupying the County Council yard on the Blessington Road near Beggar’s End for the last two weeks. However gardai say it is up to Kildare County Council to seek a court injunction to have them moved on.
©2001knn