Travellers booking Airbnbs to get around Knock caravan ban
TRAVELLERS are leaving their caravans behind and using Airbnb during the Papal visit to Knock, to avoid tight restrictions.
As previously reported in the Irish Mail on Sunday, gardaí have been preventing Travellers bringing their caravans to the town for the past three months, in advance of the event.
Travellers traditionally come here for the annual Novena but this year only residents and people staying in hotels or rental properties can get in without a ticket for the Pope’s 50-minute event. So by booking Airbnbs, Travellers can enter the Mayo town without a ticket. A local B&B owner said many Airbnb renters were surprised when Travellers turned up for the Novena.
‘They’ve booked out the Airbnbs for the Novena and they’re staying right up until the Pope leaves,’ he said. Another guesthouse owner, in the nearby town of Ballyhaunis, said he had a lot of inquiries from Travellers who are ‘frustrated because they’ve nowhere to stay and a lot of them have no tickets because they didn’t go online to get them. We’ve heard that a lot of the Airbnbs in Ballyhaunis, Knock and all around are taken by Travellers. Some of them changed their names when making the bookings.’
There are many Traveller families in the town this week, many driving UK-registered cars and vans. One Traveller woman here for the Novena told the MoS: ‘I’m not staying for the Pope’s visit but I know a lot of Travellers will be here. Booking the house is handy – there are no sites around here.’