Statutory funders of a Traveller charity in south Dublin have ordered an independent review of governance and funding, amid a standoff between the board and staff and service users.
The Southside Traveller Action Group (Stag), which supports over 140 families across its catchment area, has been closed for three weeks. Services, including primary healthcare, education and training, and housing advocacy are not being fully delivered as a result.
Staff – most of whom are Travellers – have held weekly protests outside Stag’s Sandyford premises, saying they have lost confidence in the board and its chair.
They say two Traveller members of the board were recently removed outside of standard procedures; that the long-standing Traveller manager has been suspended; and the chair of the board, Barbara Scallon, who was appointed in January 2024, will not meet them in person to discuss their concerns.
RM Block
In a letter to funders, dated October 8th, 2025, and seen by The Irish Times, the former Traveller board members dispute the validity of their removal, saying: “the processes followed were not in line with legal or constitutional requirements.
“We are deeply concerned about the lack of oversight and governance at the board level,” they said, calling for the appointment of an independent representative until the governance dispute is resolved.
About 30 staff and services users protested outside the premises last Monday, carrying signs calling for a public AGM, which they say is more than a year overdue. None wanted to be named.
A co-ordinator of an education programme said he had “11 learners aged between 16 and 20” whom he “had to send home” three weeks ago when a board-appointed interim manager arrived “without warning” and without documentation demonstrating their Garda vetting.
“I had to tell every kid to go home ... The place has been closed since and I have learners at home, riddled with anxiety, in constant contact with worry asking should they switch to a different course, not sure what’s going to happen to their aspirations.”
A Traveller primary healthcare worker said: “We just want Stag open and do our jobs”.
Bernard Joyce, director of the national Irish Traveller Movement, attended the protest. “This is not what we want to see – the Traveller community protesting outside a service they themselves have built up over 40 years.
He added that they do not “feel confident coming here”. “They are calling for the AGM which is now 18 months behind.”
A spokeswoman for the Department of Children said Stag’s funders – the HSE, the Department of Children, the Department of Social Protection, and Dublin and Dún Laoghaire Education and Training Board – had earlier this month ordered an “an independent finance and governance review of the organisation”.
“The purpose of this independent review of the Southside Travellers Action Group is to ensure that all State funded services can continue to be delivered to the local Traveller community into the future,” she said.
“It is intended that the findings of the review will be delivered within a number of weeks.”
Queries to Stag management, Ms Scanlon and the board from The Irish Times remained unanswered at the time of writing. Stag’s manager did not respond to queries.
