Travellers across south Co Dublin are “devastated” at the closure of one of the oldest Traveller support organisations in the State, an advocate has said.
The Southside Travellers Action Group (Stag), based in Sandyford, went into voluntary liquidation this week amid allegations of financial mismanagement and a bitter rift between the board, its chair Barbara Scanlon and staff.
The charity’s demise will result in the loss of Traveller education and health supports, housing advocacy, an afterschool project, employment and training programmes, and a youth club.
Emails sent to staff on Tuesday stated: “It is with the deepest regret and sadness that following a duly convened meeting of the board, a resolution has been passed to place the company into voluntary liquidation on the grounds that is it insolvent and unable to meet its liabilities as they fall due.
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“In circumstances where Stag is reliant on funding from Government agencies and in circumstances where that funding has been delayed or not forthcoming, the board concluded that, in the absence of sufficient funds to meet it’s (sic) current and immediate liabilities, including payroll obligations, the company cannot continue it’s (sic) operations.”
One of the charity’s lead funders, the Department of Children, however, denied there was any issue with funding provision to the charity.
“Governance and financial challenges have been the focus of concern and attention for all State funders,” it said in a statement.
“Notwithstanding these concerns, and to ensure that the organisation could continue to provide services, all funders continued to make funding available while allowing the identified issues to be addressed.”
The latest development was “deeply regrettable”, it said.
The department noted Stag’s “commitment and dedication over many years to advance the rights and wellbeing of Travellers in the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown area” and mentioned its work with families affected by the Carrickmines fire tragedy in October 2015.
Last October, as staff held weekly protests outside Stag’s premises saying they had lost trust in the board, the department and other funders, including HSE, the Dublin and Dún-Laoghaire Education and Training Board, and the Department of Social Protection, commissioned an independent finance and governance review of the charity.
“That review has not been completed as at the time of the board’s 17th February announcement,” said a Department of Children spokesman. “The department will assess the implications of the board’s decision and is conscious of the need to ensure services are delivered to the community.”
Stag was founded in 1984 by the pioneering nun and Traveller rights campaigner, the late Sr Colette Dwyer.
Employing up to 30 staff, and providing work placements to 10 trainees, the charity has built respected relationships with statutory agencies supporting Traveller women, children and families.
Closure will almost certainly mean the loss of the premises on lands secured by Dwyer in 1982 on a 250-year lease.
None of the charity’s staff or management would comment on Thursday. It is understood several have cases pending before the Workplace Relations Commission. Scanlon, who was appointed chair in 2024 and is based in Belfast, would not comment.
Catherine Joyce, manager of the Blanchardstown Traveller Development Group, who has been supporting Stag workers since last year, described the closure as a “tragedy”.
“Families who relied on these services, the staff, they are all devastated,” she said. “The dismantling of this organisation, built up over 40 years, the links they had built up with mainstream providers, the youth work programmes, the primary health promotion, has all been done by this board.
“They have literally left everyone in the community high and dry. The anguish they have caused is unforgivable.
“The people that did this, they have to be held accountable financially, legally and morally for what they have done.”
