Two caravans stationed on lands near the Curragh Racecourse in Co Kildare are drawing further encampments to the area, the High Court has been told.
The lands in question are owned by the Minister for Defence, who is seeking injunctions to prevent continued trespass on the property, reports Breaking News.
The minister’s senior counsel, Kelley Smith SC, told the court on Friday that “waves of trespassers” had been arriving on the lands since earlier in the year.
Two caravans owned or occupied by Nicole O’Brien and her husband have been present on the land for some time, despite an interim injunction having been obtained against her and a large number of other caravan dwellers who had previously trespassed on the property, reports Breaking News.
The other caravans vacated the area before a full hearing of the injunction application could take place.
Smith said it had been decided not to proceed with the injunction against O’Brien last year as she was heavily pregnant at the time and had four other children, reports Breaking News.
However, it was now the minister’s position that the presence of O’Brien’s caravans was serving as a draw for others to do the same, and counsel indicated they now wished to advance the injunction application against her.
Reginald Garrett, representing O’Brien — who had previously indicated to the court the case may involve a discrimination issue, given that caravans have been parked on these lands for many decades — disputed the claim that his client’s caravans were attracting others, reports Breaking News.
He said the two caravans associated with O’Brien were located on one side of the Curragh, while those that had recently arrived were on the opposite side.
Mr Justice John Jordan fixed a date the following month for the hearing of the case against O’Brien, reports Breaking News.
He also granted an order joining 28 other individuals who had recently arrived with caravans to the injunction proceedings.
The minister contends there has been a longstanding pattern over the decades of caravans arriving from England or France and parking on the land during the summer months, reports Breaking News.
Beyond interference with normal racecourse-related activities and the use of a firing range by the Defence Forces, there is the ongoing problem of serious dumping on the lands, which costs tens of thousands of euro to clear — with the clean-up bill for 2024 coming in at €185,000, reports Breaking News.
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