Travellers
INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this conference paper is to understand the different methods of working with minorities and their relevance to real life. Discrimination against travellers is an issue of diversity. This paper will focus on the inequality that travellers experience in Irish society. This paper would start by giving a brief introduction into what it means to be a traveller, their various beliefs and culture. It would also focus on discussing the Irish government response to the issue and also whether the approach taken by the government in dealing with travellers has been assimilation, integration or multiculturalism. Lastly, I would look at various articles, which have discussed problems Irish travellers face on their day to day living in Ireland.
According to the Equal Status Act (2000), which defined traveller community as follows:
"Traveller community means the community of people who are commonly called travellers and who are identified (by themselves and others) as people with a shared history, culture and traditions including, historically a nomadic way of life on the island of Ireland". (National Disability Authority, 2011)
Irish travellers are traditionally nomadic people of ethic origin, who have always keep to their traditions and have distinct cultural practices such as early marriage, desire to be mobile and a tradition of self-employment. (Pavee Point Travellers’ Centre, 2011)
LITERATURE REVIEW
According to an article written by the Irish times (2011), the following are three different comments of what the settled people had to say about travellers:
First comment- “I believe there is a ferocious amount of physical and mental abuse in that community. Women Travellers are treated like second-class citizens,”
Second comment - “They live off the State, and they get away with things ordinary citizens cannot. There are very few Travellers who work. There are all these fine, able-bodied Traveller men, who are living off the State and
The purpose of this conference paper is to understand the different methods of working with minorities and their relevance to real life. Discrimination against travellers is an issue of diversity. This paper will focus on the inequality that travellers experience in Irish society. This paper would start by giving a brief introduction into what it means to be a traveller, their various beliefs and culture. It would also focus on discussing the Irish government response to the issue and also whether the approach taken by the government in dealing with travellers has been assimilation, integration or multiculturalism. Lastly, I would look at various articles, which have discussed problems Irish travellers face on their day to day living in Ireland.
According to the Equal Status Act (2000), which defined traveller community as follows:
"Traveller community means the community of people who are commonly called travellers and who are identified (by themselves and others) as people with a shared history, culture and traditions including, historically a nomadic way of life on the island of Ireland". (National Disability Authority, 2011)
Irish travellers are traditionally nomadic people of ethic origin, who have always keep to their traditions and have distinct cultural practices such as early marriage, desire to be mobile and a tradition of self-employment. (Pavee Point Travellers’ Centre, 2011)
LITERATURE REVIEW
According to an article written by the Irish times (2011), the following are three different comments of what the settled people had to say about travellers:
First comment- “I believe there is a ferocious amount of physical and mental abuse in that community. Women Travellers are treated like second-class citizens,”
Second comment - “They live off the State, and they get away with things ordinary citizens cannot. There are very few Travellers who work. There are all these fine, able-bodied Traveller men, who are living off the State and
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