A group of Travellers, among them some from Donegal, who had set up camp in the city of Birmingham in the hope of being blessed by the Pope at an open-air Mass on September 19th have vacated the site just hours before their eviction notice from Birmingham City Council had expired.Around 16 families moved on to a beauty spot near Hall Green last week telling locals they were in the city to attend Pope Benedict XVI's open-air mass in Cofton Park on September 19.
Local city councillor Martin Mullaney said the Donegal Travellers told him they had made their way from Ireland and had no idea the service was ticketed.
Cllr Mullaney said: "About 16 families moved on to one of our historic parks, which has links to JRR Tolkien, the author of the famous trilogy, ‘Lord of the Rings’ so I went along to see them.
"I asked them what they were doing in Birmingham and they told me, 'We've come here to see the Pope because we want to get his blessing at the Mass in Birmingham'.
“They were totally unaware that they needed passes for this area which were being distributed throughout the cointry by the Catholic Church.
"Our fear now is that there is a huge community of Irish Travellers on their way so we want to be proactive and make it clear that there are no spaces available.”
One member of the travelling community said, “If we could only stay for a few weelks in peace and quiet it would be great.
“It's a once in a lifetime opportunity. If I could just hear the Pope’s voice I would feel blessed.” she said
Cllr Mullaney, Birmingham City Council cabinet member for leisure, sport and culture, said council officials met with police and representatives of the Catholic Church yesterday to work out how to deal with the situation.
A seven-day eviction notice had been served and the families were encouraged to move onto a disused car-park in the Moseley area of Birmingham.
A spokeswoman for the Papal visit tod the Donegal Democrat yesterday afternoon, “I am delighted to confirm that the travelling community have now moved leaving the site ready for preparation for the visit of Pope Benedict.
“We have just over a fortnight to get everything together and as you will know in Ireland, a papal visit is a huge undertaking with a tremendous amount of organisation. It is great to see that common sense has prevailed by all parties.”
The development came as Birmingham Council deputy leader Coun Paul Tilsley denied the authority was performing a U-turn on its policy on travellers heading to the city for the Papal visit.
Council sources said he had simply “changed his mind” over earmarking sites capable of accommodating more convoys but Cllr. Tilsley said there were “no plans” for temporary camps and the idea was “never a serious runner”.
“We have tried to get the message out to all the travellers that there are no spare tickets for the Papal mass or the blessing,” he said.
“We have no plans at present for any temporary camp sites.
SIC: DD/IE
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