SOME 140 representatives of travellers from all over Ireland are seeking to vindicate their good name following recent unsubstantiated media allegations of traveller involvement in attacks on elderly people.
They are delegates to the Irish Traveller Movement a.g.m. which was opened in Galway last night by the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht, Mr Higgins.
The movement's co ordinator, Mr Fintan Farrell, said the occasion presented an opportunity for travellers, who had "taken a bashing in some newspaper articles", to have confidence in them restored among the community at large.
He indicated that the main discussion at the meeting would focus on the report of the Task Force on the Travelling Community.
"A Government inter departmental committee has been examining the report and will soon be ready to present recommendations to the Cabinet for subsequent decisions," he said.
Mr Farrell said the key principle underlining all the recommendations in the report was "that the distinct culture and identity of the traveller community be recognised and taken into account".