'Better education' for Travellers

Education for Travellers here is changing for the better but still has a long way to go, President Mary McAleese told a conference of Travellers centres yesterday.

Speaking at the National Association of Travellers Centres Conference in Maynooth, the President said historically Travellers had faced serious problems in articulating their case and in being listened to.

"For a long time, both Traveller organisation and Traveller education were weak but that story is changing and changing for the better," she said. "Weakness in education made those things much worse and also cut Travellers off from employment and training opportunities, not to mention the social integration which could have strengthened them as individuals and as a group."

Two decades ago, virtually no Traveller children transferred from national school to second level, she said, and it was unheard of for young Traveller people to go on to college or university.

"That story is no longer true and today the genius of young Travellers is revealing itself in many different ways," she said, "but there is still a very long way to travel before the remarkable opportunities Ireland has on offer today are fully accessed and used by the Traveller community."

Mrs McAleese said there were still obstacles holding the community back within the wider settled community and within the Traveller community.

"The greater the open and frank engagement with the wider settled community, the better for all of us who dream of that completed republic, that true social order in our lifetime."