The Irish Traveller community

national | miscellaneous | news report Friday August 23, 2002 19:26 by shaun pleamonn - open door productions shaunpleamonn at hotmail dot com

Racism and discrimination against Ireland's largest minority ethnic community has been a feature of life here for a long time. This piece looks at the Irish Traveller situation in the north of Ireland/N.Ireland

RACISM AGAINST THE TRAVELLER COMMUNITY

Irish Traveller constitute a small percentage of the population. Their numbers stand at approximately 23,000 people in the Republic of Ireland and another 2000 in N.Ireland. The statistics of racism against the Traveller Community are:

· Travellers have more than double the national rate of stillbirths
· Infant mortality rates are three times higher than the national rate
· Traveller men live on average 10 years less than settled men
· Traveller women live on less 12 years less than their settled peers
· Travellers are only now reaching the expectancy that settled people reached in the 1940's
· Travellers of all ages have very high mortality rates compared to the settled population north and south.

These are the statistics of racism, clearly showing how Travellers lives are affected in the most basic ways by their exclusion and marginalisation. Less than 10% make it into post primary education - the numbers making to into third level education are very few. The Traveller Community is recognised as a distinct minority ethnic group under the Race Relations Order (N.I.) 1997.They fulfil all the internationally agreed criteria for defining ethnic identity.

· a long shared history of which Travellers are conscious
· a cultural tradition of its own including family and social customs
· descent from common ancestors - you have to be born into the group
· a common language
· a minority - a discriminated and marginalised one within the majority community.

There is strong resistance to acknowledging Travellers ethnicity. This attitude stems from the view that they could not be anything other than 'failed settled people.' People also fear that if they concede their claim to separate ethnicity then allegations of racism , which are often dismissed out of hand, would have some credence.Travellers experience racism at both the individual and institutional level. Travellers often have to sign for welfare benefits at different times. Often they are denied access to pubs and places of entertainment. This is illegal under the Race Relations Order (N.Ireland) 1997 and a number of successful cases have been brought by the Equality Commission against shopkeepers and publicans in this area. Self destructive and even anti-social behaviour can arise from the total experience of racism. Racist attacks against the Traveller community may also be on the increase as well.
Out of the 26 District Councils in N.Ireland only 7 have provided any sort of accommodation for Travellers. That accommodation has been provided, it has to be remembered ,with very little consultation with the Traveller community. District councils are supposed to promote good community relations between all sections of the community ; the reality is that nearly all of them have done nothing positive in this area at all. In a recent survey carried out the N.Ireland Statistics and Research Agency over 70% of respondents said they would not want to work alongside a member of the Traveller community.

Travellers also find it difficult to move from a site because Government legislation has always been very much anti-nomadism.The N.Ireland Housing Executive plan to provide Traveller specific accommodation for family groupings who wish to settle- this will allow for Housing Associations to take over service sites, but won't allow for short term stay.There are no pull in/ pull out sites(transit sites) provided for Travellers in N.Ireland and Travellers have always been given piece-meal accommodation on the edges of towns . Schools also tend to discriminate against Traveller children by setting criteria which is difficult for them to meet. Segregation for Traveller children is a reality in N.Ireland.Even where the Traveller Community buy private land, have their trailers on that land and plan to put water and other facilities down, they are denied planning permission - even when they try to accommodate themselves it is not always acceptable. The litany of discrimination against them takes a serious toll, physically, emotionally and psychologically on individuals , their families and communities. Racist name - calling and abuse against the Traveller community are endemic within the sedentary population and this racism is seen as acceptable and encouraged by many.

The Race Relations Order (N.Ireland), 1997, was a welcome piece of legislation in that it defined Irish Travellers as a distinct ethnic group - at the same time it was not sufficiently strong enough to ensure public bodies provide proper services for Travellers. The onus has always been on the individual or group to prove they have been discriminated against. Strengthening the legislation is therefore absolutely necessary along with the introduction of Hate Crimes legislation. Confidence to take on the system though is growing among Travellers and there can be no doubt that the 1997 legislation had an important effect in increasing this confidence.

Political parties also need to address Travellers . Because they are a particularly small numerical group of people and therefore in that sense pose no threat there's traditionally been no vote in them and political parties have ignored their concerns as a group of people with very distinctive needs. Only recently have some of N.Ireland's political parties begun to address the issues that affect them and it remains to be seen how this turns out in practice. It has to be said that there is no obvious commitment on the part of any of N.Ireland's political parties to drive forward an equality agenda that regards minority ethnic communities as a valuable part of our society. Changes to the Race Relations Order could come through the new N.Ireland Assembly and this should in theory be better legislation reflecting local concerns and this will be a test of whatever commitment may exist.

The language of Travellers, Shelta, is a rich linguistic tradition that many scholars, anthropologists and linguists have been fascinated by for some time; the songs, the stories, the music and family customs should all be celebrated. The Traveller Community should not be coerced into giving up their nomadic culture. Industrialisation affected the way they could make a living and new ways of opening up employment are being looked at. What we must remember is that poverty is not part of Traveller culture- the legacy of discrimination and racism is responsible for that. Travellers' distinct cultural and ethnic identity must be protected. Challenging racism at an individual and institutional level is fundamental to tackling this racism. Political parties need to prove they are committed to equality for all in society; the Churches need to speak out against anti-Traveller views and attitudes and call it racism; the settled community need to know the truth about how Travellers have been discriminated against for so long - increased education in this area is essential. Hopefully, we can then move towards a more progressive and genuinely multi-ethnic society.
Interview with Irish Travellers :

" my mother tried to get us into a local school on the Glen Road, but she was told that there was no Travellers there and to try the school for you people on the Falls Rd. A whole generation of Travellers have grown up not getting the education preparing them for secondary. Children are segregated. There is no mixing with children from the settled community in the education system. The whole experience of education for Travellers here has been a very bad one.
.. a very small percentage of Travellers make it into the secondary sector; they find themselves left behind, being abandoned. The education system here needs to be changed."

" when we go for a night out we go to the South of the city, to Botanic or Malone, there we know we are not going to be bothered. In various bars in the West we wouldn't feel able to relax. People in the south would just take you for Southern students. One time we were having a drink in a bar on the Ormeau Road and we were just enjoying ourselves , keeping to ourselves. The Manager of the bar walked in and told the barman to tell us to leave. The barman refused since he had had no problem with us and the Manager came over and told us once we had finished our drinks to leave the bar."

" In 1992, I was 13 or 14 at the time. We had just moved to Poleglass. One night a local priest accompanied by an SDLP councillor and local people came up to our caravans and told us to get out , that we had 24 hrs to move or we would be burned out. It was a very scary experience and to see your parents in a total panic, torches flashing - and the presence of a priest especially and a so- called public servant as well. There were sick children in the caravans at the time and some people had to abandon their caravans. A number of caravans that had been left on the Monagh bypass were set on fire before they could be got back. For people who have been discriminated against themselves it was a case of the oppressed becoming the oppressor and taking it out on someone else. The Andersonstown News , to be fair to them, spoke out against it and said it was a disgrace."

"It was 1994 when there were plans went ahead to build a site for Travellers on the Monagh bypass. Travellers were unhappy with the gradients on the site, that you couldn't get a caravan level on the site. We tried to tell this to people, but for some reason they had to go ahead and build the site even though they were tearing it down , but they had to complete for some strange reason - reports whatever. It cost a million and a half by the time they had re - landscape the whole site. There were reports in the paper that it was Travellers fault, that we didn't want the site. There was then a dispute between the Council, the Planners and architects ; they took each other to court -eventually it was resolved that it was the Council's fault and they had to pay out £ 300,000. Still though we are living in the same conditions."