The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) has welcomed what it has described as a “significant” Supreme Court ruling in the case of the eviction of a Traveller family in Co Clare.

The court upheld the McDonagh family’s appeal against their eviction, with five Supreme Court justices ruling unanimously in their favour.

Clare County Council had obtained an order from the High Court requiring the family to vacate the site, and this had been upheld by the Court of Appeal.

The judgment delivered today (31 January) by Mr Justice Gerard Hogan (pictured) acknowledged that husband and wife Bernard and Helen McDonagh, along with two sons and other members of their extended family, were currently illegally occupying lands owned by the council.

‘No alternative’

It was also accepted that this occupation amounted to a form of unauthorised development, the court said.

The judgment added, however, that it was not clear that the council had adequately discharged its duties to provide accommodation for the family under the Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act 1998 or other housing legislation.

“In addition, it is clear that this is the only dwelling that the defendants have, and, if they are obliged to vacate this site, they have no alternative land on which to reside, as there are no other suitable lands or sites available to them within the functional area of the respondent council,” the judgment stated.

Mr Justice Hogan concluded that the fact that the question of where the family could lawfully go, if evicted, could not be immediately answered – and the council’s obligation to make provision for their housing needs – were “the decisive considerations” that tipped the balance in favour of the appellants.

Proportionality

IHREC said that the ruling set out that it was ultimately for a council to convince the courts, in any future cases, that it had fulfilled its obligations, and for the courts to assess the proportionality of the council’s actions.

In its legal role as amicus curiae, IHREC had argued that Clare County Council failed in its statutory obligations to properly and proportionately assess the rights of a Traveller family before invoking planning laws to evict them.

Mr Justice Hogan pointed out that the court’s judgment was being delivered just over 100 years since the first Provisional Government for an independent Irish State was called into being.

“It is nonetheless salutary to reflect that 100 years later a distinct group – the Irish Traveller community – still remains a vulnerable minority at the margins of Irish society,” he said.

Evictions from public land

Sinéad Gibney (IHREC’s chief commissioner) said that councils across the country were failing to properly and appropriately address Traveller accommodation.

“This ruling sets out that it is not enough for a local authority to evict Traveller families from public land without any thought of their accommodation needs and requirements,” she stated.

“The Supreme Court is clear that the local authority is the housing body, and it has an obligation to offer suitable accommodation,” she added.