IRVINE’S MP has been warned by a charity over his language regarding the travelling community after a blistering attack on local authorities’ handling of travellers this week.

The Black and Ethnic Minority Infrastructure in Scotland (BEMIS) have voiced their displeasure at Brian Donohoe’s latest remarks about the travelling community after a group of travellers recently set up camp at Irvine Moor.

In a strongly-worded statement, Mr Donohoe accused the authorities of “pussyfooting” around the travellers and wants a change in the law in dealing with encampments.

He claimed: “I am receiving daily phone calls and emails about this situation on the Moor. These people are fly-tipping rubbish onto the old racecourse as well as within the gorse on the Moor and as if that isn’t bad enough they are also dumping the contents of their waste boxes from their toilets – which is quite frankly disgusting and there is no way other people would get away with such behaviour!

“My constituents are pleading with me to demand a change to the Scottish Government legislation and I am going to attempt that. As it stands now, it goes out of its way to protect this so called ‘ethnic minority’ who, in my opinion choose to be an ethnic minority and segregate themselves from the rest of society, whilst doing nothing to protect the human rights of my constituents who have the right to live in a secure environment and a right to privacy.

“Both the council and the police have received complaints from a number of residents in the Carrick Drive and Racecourse Place areas who are having their lives encroached upon by this illegal encampment but so far have seen nothing except for these so-called travellers being pussyfooted around.

“Enough is enough. I for one, intend to stand up for the rights of my constituents and will be writing to Kenny MacAskill to ask for change in the guidelines which will allow for the dealing with illegal encampments to be carried out more promptly. I will also be writing to the Chief Executive of North Ayrshire Council to ask her thoughts on the apparent lack of action surrounding this encampment.” In response to Mr Donohoe’s comments about travellers, BEMIS’ Parliamentary and Policy Officer Danny Boyle said: “Having read the comments from Brian Donohoe MP we would urge him to be more responsible and cautious in any future remarks.

“The Equality Act is quite clear in its terms of self-recognition and the Scottish Government has been pro-active in attempting to build a sustainable and positive future for settled and travelling communities. However, all citizens be they ethnic minorities or not, share rights and responsibilities. If there has been a break down in recognition of these rights and responsibilities, as alluded to by Mr Donohoe, this is a concern and our approach would be to encourage dialogue as an initial measure as opposed to comments which may result in an increase in local tension and further polarisation or stereotyping of the travelling community.”