It is important to recognise that Irish society is not mono-cultural; in other words it is not only composed of white settled Catholic people. In fact, this was never the situation. We have always had other distinct cultural, religious and linguistic groups and now we have even more with the arrival of refugees and asylum-seekers and this poses a challenge to us. How do we create a more inclusive anti-racist society, where all cultures and identities are respected and protected?
When asked to introduce myself or describe myself I would always respond by saying I'm an Irish Traveller, because being Irish is also important to me as this is the place where I was born, grew up and now live. It's part of my lived experience.
I am of the opinion that you can have dual or multiple identities; for example, you have Irish Jews, Irish Travellers, Irish Catholics and Irish Protestants and there are many more. It's for the groups themselves to decide what is their primary identity, but for me, first and foremost is being a Traveller.