Tag Archives: Travellers

travelleracadamy

Norah Casey (top centre) with from left: Christine Collins, Leanne McDonagh, Tracie Joyce and Ann Rose Mongan.

Norah’s Traveller Academy.

Yes.

Melanie O’Connor writes:

For each of the four young Traveller women featured, the mentoring process represents an unprecedented and revealing journey of personal discovery. In the course of their training, the four trainees will share their experience and perspectives of the casual prejudice and cultural mores that continue to act as a barrier to independence and business opportunity for travellers in modern Ireland.

This is no ordinary mentoring process. Traditionally, traveller women are consigned to the home and discouraged from the world of business. Few finish school and fewer still progress to third level education. Norah has a unique challenge on her hands. Along with commercial know-how, she’ll have to encourage the confidence and resilience her trainees will need to survive in the business world. …

A novel way of showing the challenges facing women in the travelling community?

Or Pygmalion-style reality sop to misunderstood minority?

Find out on Thursday at 9pm on RTÉ2.

(RTÉ)

D'Arcy

Senator Michael D’Arcy (Fine Gael) spoke in the chamber this morning about unprecedented criminal activity in the Travelling community.

Now that we’re into the long dark winter nights, people are finding it that they’re not safe in their homes and it’s a real concern. But specifically it has been brought to my attention about the level of criminality in the Travelling community is now out of control. And I think it’s important to qualify that statement Chair because I don’t want anybody to say that I’m against Travellers or anything of that nature. I certainly am not. But where one sector of society seems to be ignoring the boundaries that we all live by, that’s not acceptable. The travelling community are not taking responsibilty for their own members. I’ve been informed by senior members of the Gardai that very serious crime within the travelling community at a level that was never seen before is now occurring. I’m calling for the Minister for Justice to come in to have a debate upon serious criminality and that we can scope further the actions of the Gardai to see are they able to impact upon the level of crime within the travelling community. It just can’t be left unchecked because it is burgeoning and spiralling upwards in a way that is not acceptable.

Genuine concerns or has the Senator been watching Love/Hate?

rosaleen
[Rosaleen McDonagh, a Traveller and playwright from Sligo]

A judge describing Travellers as “Neanderthal men abiding by the laws of the jungle”; politicians suggesting Travellers could be sent to Spike Island to live in isolation, away from settled people; schools refusing enrolment; and racial profiling of infants – these are all examples of everyday racism. Travellers don’t have to be involved in feuding to be stopped, picked up or questioned by gardaí. Racism is seen as a valid way of the State controlling and punishing the collective by not implementing policies.

Suicide rates in the community are six times than the average for the settled community. And seven times higher for men. The unemployment rate among Travellers is 84 per cent. Endemic racism, poverty, isolation, alienation and lack of opportunity relate to a much larger picture of internalised oppression and systemic discrimination. The low expectations of Travellers as citizens – police do not always protect us – mark our community as beyond the protection of the State.

Traveller feuding is neither sport nor entertainment (Rosaleen McDonagh, Irish Times)

Pic: Kaite O’Reilly

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Further to the Mount Anville halting site brouhaha.

A leaflet distributed by Fine Gael local election candidate Josepha Madigan yesterday.

Anon writes:

Dear Ms Madigan…I am a resident of Goatstown. Your lack of detail and ill informed literature leads me to believe that you have given this matter no further consideration than a cheap populist attempt to drum up some anti-traveller sentiment in advance of your election campaign.

I couldn’t let this opportunity pass without taking the time to say a definition of racism is someone who believes that members of different races and ethnic minorities should be treated differently. Your literature indicates to me that you think that members of the traveling community should be treated differently. That they should not be housed in your ward and the Council should simply find somewhere else for them to live.

Contrary to what you seem to believe, some voters in this constituency do seek political representation that is fair, non discriminatory and represents tolerance and acceptance of all races and ethnic minorities.

Travellers have been marginalized, rejected and told to move on in South County Dublin for decades. Clearly there continues to be a prevailing climate marginalizing Travellers in South County Dublin. Distributing Anti-Traveller literature such as this is offensive and I hope will be received with similar disdain by your constituents. I will most certainly be raising it at the local residents association and indeed the many other community groups and voluntary associations of which I am a member.

You criticised an unnamed Labour Party Councillor in your literature for being in favor of the proposed sites on the basis that “everyone deserves somewhere to live”, you said that you feel “such comments should be consigned to the past”, alas I fear that racist views and anti-Traveller literature such as the material you distributed and the political campaign under which you are running are sentiments that should be consigned to the past….

Josepha Madigan (Facebook)

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Mayor of London Boris Johnson in his column in the Telegraph has told people to stop “bashing” the super-rich, comparing them to hard-pressed minorities like the homeless, Irish travellers or ex-gang members.

“The great thing about being Mayor of London is you get to meet all sorts. It is my duty to stick up for every put-upon minority in the city – from the homeless to Irish travellers to ex-gang members to disgraced former MPs. After five years of slog, I have a fair idea where everyone is coming from.

But there is one minority that I still behold with a benign bewilderment, and that is the very, very rich. I mean people who have so much money they can fly by private jet, and who have gin palaces moored in Puerto Banus, and who give their kids McLaren supercars for their 18th birthdays and scour the pages of the FT’s “How to Spend It” magazine for jewel-encrusted Cartier collars for their dogs.

We should be helping all those who can to join the ranks of the super-rich, and we should stop any bashing or moaning or preaching or bitching and simply give thanks for the prodigious sums of money that they are contributing to the tax revenues of this country, and that enable us to look after our sick and our elderly and to build roads, railways and schools.

Indeed, it is possible, as the American economist Art Laffer pointed out, that they might contribute even more if we cut their rates of tax; but it is time we recognised the heroic contribution they already make. In fact, we should stop publishing rich lists in favour of an annual list of the top 100 Tax Heroes, with automatic knighthoods for the top 10.”

We should be humbly thanking the super-rich, not bashing them (Boris Johnson, Telegraph.co.uk)