Louth county council has confirmed that it is to refurbish and reopen the unofficial halting site that Travellers were evicted from earlier this year

The news was welcomed by Rebecca Quinn, spokesperson for the Travellers who had lived at Woodland Park, Dundalk and she said "it is a 360 degree u-turn."

In a statement the council said that it has received "approval in principle" from the Department of the Environment for funding "to refurbish the existing halting site at Woodland Park in Dundalk."

It added that, "the department has expressed a concern that this will be the third refurbishment that will be funded by public monies since the site was first developed. In each case, the works were required due to vandalism."

The site was closed as an official halt in 2008 due to what the council says was a lack of interest among the local Traveller community.

They said the families were removed from it in January due to concerns "over site safety, including poor sanitation."