Minister highlights plight of Travellers

The potential for progress and reconciliation between the Traveller and settled communities was likened to the ongoing dialogue…

The potential for progress and reconciliation between the Traveller and settled communities was likened to the ongoing dialogue in Northern Ireland by the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs yesterday.

Officiating at the launch in Castlebar of The Road Ahead: Making Mayo Better for Travellers, Mr Ó Cuív asked: "What other group in society has such a low life expectancy?"

He was commenting on the fact that out of 1,000 Travellers living in the county, only 15 are aged over 65. "These figures starkly speak for themselves", he observed.

The report, commissioned by Mayo Travellers Support Group, concludes that: "The life experiences of Travellers in Mayo mirror the lives of Travellers throughout Ireland."

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Focusing, in particular, on the role of statutory agencies in service provision to Travellers, it states: "No statutory agencies have as yet put in place anti-racist codes of conduct".

The chairwoman of the support group, Mr Bernie Sweeney, addressed the gathering in the Linenhall Arts Centre, which included Travellers from Donegal, Sligo, Galway and Mayo. He said it was "time for us Travellers to get fully involved in these issues. Settled people cannot continue to make decisions for us. Discrimination is an everyday fact for Travellers in all sorts of places, including schools, doctors' surgeries, leisure centres, shops, businesses, job interviews and employment."

The situation for Travellers in Co Mayo continues to be difficult, with 58 families still living on the roadside without basic facilities. He also noted that many older Travellers are illiterate.

Mr Gearoid O'Riain, Pavee Point, said that "by building a Mayo that is better for Travellers, we are building a Mayo that is better for everyone. The price of not doing so is to condemn Travellers to continue to be second-class citizens, with the awful consequence from birth to early death being paid in the consequence of illness, morbidity, depression and squandered potential."

Mr O'Riain called on the majority settled community "to acknowledge their systematic exclusion of Travellers", and on local and national government "to use will and imagination to bring about a real change and a new culture of fairness and equality".