A Jesuit sociologist has called for the Government to be brought to the European Court of Human Rights due to recent legislation banning large encampments of Travellers.
Father Miceal McGreil says the Housing Miscellaneous Act 2002 is effectively an act against nomadism.
Addressing the subject of "Prejudice and Racism in Ireland Today" at a lecture series on cultural diversity in Mayo, Father McGreil said the Government has become a "rotation of middle-class elites". He argued that in the past the lower socio-economic class was "poor but powerful", but nowadays has become "poor and powerless".
"Irish society has become highly stratified with the social and economic differences on the increase and the development of an 'under-class' whose life chances are totally limited," said Father McGreil. He criticised "our many liberal leaders" who ignore the reality of "class issues".
The author of Prejudice and Tolerance in Ireland said the Housing Miscellaneous Act 2002 was "a draconian piece of legislation, sections of which were purportedly to ban large encampments of Travellers, but these have already been abused. It is effectively an act against nomadism and an infringement of the rights of a cultural minority."
He noted the irony of the fact that county councils have failed to provide Travellers with skips or dustbins for their rubbish.
"Pluralism will not truly be achieved until there is institutional duplication," said the former NUI Maynooth lecturer.
"Interdenominational effectively means non-denominational in many of our schools. Minority cultures are more often assimilated into the dominant culture rather than given the chance to learn their own culture and religion."
In coming weeks, the lecture series, which is taking place in Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, Castlebar, will include "The Experience of Refugees in Mayo" and "A Traveller Perspective on Cultural Diversity in the West of Ireland".