The Hero
الأســــــــــــــطورة
- إنضم
- Jun 29, 2008
- المشاركات
- 20,104
- مستوى التفاعل
- 69
- المطرح
- في ضحكة عيون حبيبي
Dale Farm travellers fighting eviction own multi-million pound housing estate back home in Ireland
Dale Farm travellers fighting eviction own multi-million pound housing estate back home in Ireland
A builder living on Europe's largest illegal traveller site is secretly backing a lavish 33-home property development in Ireland, it emerged yesterday.
Michael Quilligan, the son of a traveller worth £24million, is among the 96 families who claim they will be made homeless when they are removed from Dale Farm in Essex.
However, planning records show that Mr Quilligan is the mastermind behind a multi-million-pound development in the town of Rathkeale, the spiritual home of travellers in the west of Ireland.
Under construction: The multi-million pound development of large detached homes in Rathkeale in the west of Ireland
The large detached and semi-detached houses - worth up to £400,000 - are close to completion and are near to the local equivalent of millionaires' row, where other substantial gated properties can be found.
Mr Quilligan is thought to have sold some of the properties to other travellers.
It is unclear whether Dale Farm residents are among the buyers but one local report yesterday claimed that a dozen of the families facing eviction have bought homes in Rathkeale.
Members of Basildon Council, which is responsible for clearing the Dale Farm site, are calling for an urgent investigation.
This latest twist in the saga blows apart the travellers claims that there is nowhere culturally sensitive for them to go if they are evicted.
Their links with Rathkeale where around half of the towns properties are owned by travellers prove they have a perfect retreat in their native land.
Battle: Police will start to remove families from the Dale Farm site in Essex on Monday
Evictions: The 10-year battle to remain at Dale Farm was lost
earlier this month
It also emerged yesterday that Basildon Borough Council had paid housing benefits for some of the Dale Farm travellers directly to a landlord based in Rathkeale.
John Flynn, 55, bought the former scrapyard at Dale Farm for £120,000 ten years ago and owns about five caravan pitches on the site.
The council admitted it paid money directly to Mr Flynn at an address in Rathkeale to cover the rent of his tenants, who were allowed to claim housing benefits, despite living on an illegal site.
Many of the homes in Rathkeale remain boarded up apart from a few months a year and at Christmas when a cavalcade of UK-registered Range Rovers, Mercedes, BMWs and Porsches roll into the town, pulling caravans behind them.
Extravagant traveller weddings and christenings in the local Roman Catholic church add to the carnival atmosphere over the Christmas period.
Defiant: Travellers living at the Dale Farm site in Essex have vowed to remain there
Mr Quilligan, a father of four, runs a business called Michael Quilligan Building Contractor and is the son of Rathkeales wealthiest traveller, Simon Sammy Buckshot Quilligan, an antiques dealer.
John Dornan, a Tory councillor in Essex, said: I have long called for an inquiry into the funding of the site.
This new information needs to be looked at by the council to compare it with any homeless applications and housing benefits claims.
I do not want to prejudice any investigation, but if any of the same people are involved, it would have huge implications.
Dale Farm, built on green belt land near Basildon, came to the attention of planners around ten years ago when illegal plots started springing up around a smaller approved site.
Time to move: The Dale Farm site covers 52 plots and has a 400-strong community
Since then it has grown into a 400-strong community of travellers who have built roads and connections to electricity.
Bailiffs and police are planning to start removing travellers on the illegal camp from Monday after the council won a High Court battle to evict them.
Another traveller, Richard OBrien an uncle of Dale Farm spokesman Richard Sheridan but not from the site himself is developing 44 houses near his home in Rathkeale, called the Castle Park estate.
A third housing estate of 18 properties, again linked to members of the Sheridan clan, is also thought to have been built.
Last night Mr Sheridan, who is president of the UK Gipsy Council, said: This is all rubbish. I wouldnt know anything about this.
Len Gridley, 52, whose home backs on to the Dale Farm site, said: This proves it is not just about people with nowhere to go. People have been making money out of this by renting out illegal properties.'
Dale Farm travellers fighting eviction own multi-million pound housing estate back home in Ireland
A builder living on Europe's largest illegal traveller site is secretly backing a lavish 33-home property development in Ireland, it emerged yesterday.
Michael Quilligan, the son of a traveller worth £24million, is among the 96 families who claim they will be made homeless when they are removed from Dale Farm in Essex.
However, planning records show that Mr Quilligan is the mastermind behind a multi-million-pound development in the town of Rathkeale, the spiritual home of travellers in the west of Ireland.
Under construction: The multi-million pound development of large detached homes in Rathkeale in the west of Ireland
The large detached and semi-detached houses - worth up to £400,000 - are close to completion and are near to the local equivalent of millionaires' row, where other substantial gated properties can be found.
Mr Quilligan is thought to have sold some of the properties to other travellers.
It is unclear whether Dale Farm residents are among the buyers but one local report yesterday claimed that a dozen of the families facing eviction have bought homes in Rathkeale.
Members of Basildon Council, which is responsible for clearing the Dale Farm site, are calling for an urgent investigation.
This latest twist in the saga blows apart the travellers claims that there is nowhere culturally sensitive for them to go if they are evicted.
Their links with Rathkeale where around half of the towns properties are owned by travellers prove they have a perfect retreat in their native land.
Battle: Police will start to remove families from the Dale Farm site in Essex on Monday
Evictions: The 10-year battle to remain at Dale Farm was lost
earlier this month
It also emerged yesterday that Basildon Borough Council had paid housing benefits for some of the Dale Farm travellers directly to a landlord based in Rathkeale.
John Flynn, 55, bought the former scrapyard at Dale Farm for £120,000 ten years ago and owns about five caravan pitches on the site.
The council admitted it paid money directly to Mr Flynn at an address in Rathkeale to cover the rent of his tenants, who were allowed to claim housing benefits, despite living on an illegal site.
Many of the homes in Rathkeale remain boarded up apart from a few months a year and at Christmas when a cavalcade of UK-registered Range Rovers, Mercedes, BMWs and Porsches roll into the town, pulling caravans behind them.
Extravagant traveller weddings and christenings in the local Roman Catholic church add to the carnival atmosphere over the Christmas period.
Defiant: Travellers living at the Dale Farm site in Essex have vowed to remain there
Mr Quilligan, a father of four, runs a business called Michael Quilligan Building Contractor and is the son of Rathkeales wealthiest traveller, Simon Sammy Buckshot Quilligan, an antiques dealer.
John Dornan, a Tory councillor in Essex, said: I have long called for an inquiry into the funding of the site.
This new information needs to be looked at by the council to compare it with any homeless applications and housing benefits claims.
I do not want to prejudice any investigation, but if any of the same people are involved, it would have huge implications.
Dale Farm, built on green belt land near Basildon, came to the attention of planners around ten years ago when illegal plots started springing up around a smaller approved site.
Time to move: The Dale Farm site covers 52 plots and has a 400-strong community
Since then it has grown into a 400-strong community of travellers who have built roads and connections to electricity.
Bailiffs and police are planning to start removing travellers on the illegal camp from Monday after the council won a High Court battle to evict them.
Another traveller, Richard OBrien an uncle of Dale Farm spokesman Richard Sheridan but not from the site himself is developing 44 houses near his home in Rathkeale, called the Castle Park estate.
A third housing estate of 18 properties, again linked to members of the Sheridan clan, is also thought to have been built.
Last night Mr Sheridan, who is president of the UK Gipsy Council, said: This is all rubbish. I wouldnt know anything about this.
Len Gridley, 52, whose home backs on to the Dale Farm site, said: This proves it is not just about people with nowhere to go. People have been making money out of this by renting out illegal properties.'