The codirector of the Travellers Rights group Pavee Point, Martin Collins has expressed concern about the anti-Traveller sentiments that led to the removal of the condolences section on RIP.ie for Padraig Nally.
Mr Nally (81), who died last Friday at University Hospital Galway, came to national prominence in 2004 after fatally shooting John “Frog” Ward, a Traveller and father of 11, who had been trespassing on his farm near Lough Corrib on the Mayo-Galway border.
It is understood his condolences page, which allows anyone to post a tribute to the deceased or express sympathies to their family, was closed on Saturday due to a number of comments that were anti-Traveller in nature.
Mr Collins told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland he wanted to convey his sympathies to the family, friends and community of Mr Nally, but he was concerned about the comments on RIP.ie and social media following this death.
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Mr Nally had been “put on a pedestal” and had been “portrayed as a hero” while John Ward had been “vilified and demonised”, he said.
“The people responsible for this vile commentary, their only agenda is to polarise, you know, the Traveller community and sow division and hatred. And we can’t let that happen. And we won’t let that happen,” said Mr Collins.
“We all recall the events of 20 years ago, and they were traumatic. And we do acknowledge that there was a lot of trauma caused to a lot of individuals. And I include Mr Nally, I know that he was traumatised and hurt as well.
“I think it’s time for us to move on and bring some closure to this. But our concern at this moment in time is the racist commentary, as I said, by those individuals whose only agenda is to polarise the Traveller community and the settled community. And I think there’s an obligation on all right-minded, decent people to ensure that their agenda doesn’t materialise.”
Mr Collins said it was unfortunate that anti-Traveller sentiment was not a rarity, it was still quite prevalent on social media where there was commentary that perpetuated racism and stereotypes which only served to exclude and marginalise Travellers in Irish society.
“In this context, I would call on the tech companies to take more urgent action and respond faster in moderating the content on their platforms. I think we have failed in that regard. Not just failed in relation to racist commentary in online community, but on the commentary on other communities as well. So they have an obligation. They have a responsibility to step up to the plate and to moderate their content in a much more urgent fashion.”
Responding to a request for comment, Rip.ie, which was acquired by The Irish Times Group this year, said: “RIP.ie does not comment on individual death notices or condolence books and reserves the right to remove condolence notices which do not fit with its standards and policies.”
Mr Nally received a six-year prison sentence for manslaughter that was subsequently quashed in 2006. In a retrial that same year, Mr Nally was found not guilty of manslaughter at the Central Criminal Court.
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