“We have waited too long; we desperately need the department to fund this,” says Shay L’Estrange, coordinator with Ballyfermot Traveller Action Project.
Is the problem just bad behaviour by individual road users? Is poor urban design pitting people against each other in a fight for scarce street space? What can be done?
“Could you imagine anyone in the affluent areas of Dublin allowing their children to go to school beside an injecting centre?” said Sinn Féin Councillor Críona Ní Dhálaigh.
“There is this talk of social mix, but … there is no concerted effort to hold onto the fabric of the long generations of families who have lived here,” says Máirín Ó Cuireáin, a community worker.
On Sunday 25 March, we’re going to spend the day uploading data on how Dublin councillors have voted on key issues into a new council-tracker site. If you can spare the time, we’d love some help.
Some are concerned that many workers on building sites are falsely being classed as self-employed to keep costs down. It means they’ll miss out on supports if they lose their jobs.
The Garda Press Office said they aren’t running a specific operation right now. But some say Gardaí have been more active in moving people on, and charging them with begging-related offences.
