This morning.
Leinster House, Kildare Street, Dublin 2
The launch by the Justice Committee of Reports on Traveller Ethnicity. To wit:
Traveller representatives have expressed confidence of a “historic” announcement in the coming weeks….Committee Chairperson Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin has recommended that the Government should then conduct a review, in consultation with Traveller representative groups, of any legislative or policy changes required on foot of the recognition of Traveller ethnicity.
Pic 2 from left: Independent TDs Clare Daly and Mick Wallace with Singer and Senator Frances Black and Sinn Fein’s Justice Committee Chairman Caoimhghín Ó Caoláinin the AV room at Leinster house.
Oireachtas committee calls for recognition of Traveller ethnicity (RTÉ)
Sam Boal/RollingNews
If this gets through, expect even more of taxpayers cash funnelled in to even more quangos to distribute to this group of Irish people.
Separate ethnic group my swiss!
In what way would this change see more tax being distributed to travellers?
Now you can be properly racist towards them.
Can someone help me understand why this was required? – If you’re an Irish Citizen, you’re an Irish Citizen, the State is there to help and protect you and your rights and you contribute to society – why is seperating citizens into groupings, ethnic or otherwise, a good thing? Does it confer extra rights on some and not others?
Water fountain provision?
– I can’t see any useful function of it, either.
We currently have many anti-racism and intercultural initiatives, which are state funded and/or state run.
Currently travellers are not part of that remit, but with the new recognition, they will be.
So it’s effectively a recognition that an undesirable, unilateral separation of citizens exists, and allows for official efforts to work to remove that separation.
It doesn’t confer any additional rights, as the Equality Commission already provides the necessary right to not be unfairly discriminated against for travellers and others.
+1
+ 1 indeed.
+1
Is there not already a distinction made by State services and discrimination laws to assist citizens who identify themselves as Travelers?
Is this not solidifying the already unfortunate position a lot of this social group find themselves?
It’s a good question and I think it may turn out to be an unintended consequence of identity politics; we become more divided rather than united.
All official documents to be translated into cant.
LOL
TLM
Travellers Lives Matter.
Or if you prefer
BCLM
Blackie Connors’ Lives Matter
‘Separate’ to whom or what?
If that actually happens it will be an utter disgrace.
I honestly cannot see any single way that this is going to improve relations between settled people and travellers. Which would be the implicit aim of a measure like this, right? Right?
It will improve relations to the same level of success as we can expect from other government led anti-discrimination initiatives.
I don’t know about implicit, but it is the explicit aim that travellers be included as apart of such initiatives, for which the recognition is necessary.
What material difference will this make to a Traveller? Really would like to understand that.
Will it change educational opportunities, health, housing?
The traveller group should not be getting too over excited. It’s the Government that makes the decision on the traveller ethnicity not an Oireachtas committee.
If travellers get special ethnicity status what about other people? For instance what about people from Cork, from Mayo, from Tipperary etc should they get special ethnicity status? Travellers have the same rights as any other citizens in the country and that’s because their ethnicity status is the same as the rest of us which is Irish.
This doesn’t confer any additional rights, you’ll be happy to know.
I am all in favour of consciousness raising. Irish Travellers have very bad life outcomes when it comes to income, education, health etc.
How is the state supposed to consistently identify and track everyone who identifies as a Traveller? Is there a test? Is there a register? Are their children obliged to use this identity? Would you be allowed to lose the ethnicity if you wanted to?
Ethnicity is a concept that is not really used much anymore anyway. The concept is far too fuzzy for any kind of consistent legal application. I am not sure what it would achieve.
It adds travellers to those groups which are included as part of state anti-racism and intercultural initiatives.
It doesn’t necessitate tracking of who is a traveller.
That clarifies alot, thanks.
Ditto for comment higher up.
Just wait for the comments:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4160724/Stunning-images-reveal-life-Irish-traveller-families.html#comments
Ha!
Here we go with the hate on theJournal.ie
http://www.thejournal.ie/travellers-ethnic-group-3206386-Jan2017/#comments
never, ever read the comments on the journal.
Or the Journal itself.
Its kinda amazing how the same group of likeminded commenters landed on that site , I sometimes entertain myself when I hear about a news item, I think Ill bet I know what the crowd over there think , but I always come away depressed . I started to wonder if it was the same guy with dozens of accounts….
it used to be cool when it was new before it became inhabited by the hard of thinking and eternally miserable.
They’ll find this place some day then we’ll have to move on :-(
They already have
I have no comment to make on the above article, but I’d just like to point out how much better these discussions are without that howling cretin Moyest flinging his excrement about the place.
Heh
Here here.