Pavee Point.

Travellers are a small indigenous minority, documented as being part of Irish society for centuries they identify themselves as a distinct community and are seen by others as such. Nomadism has been central to the development of their distinct characteristics, traditions and values, which are evident in their organisation of family, social and economic life. (Crowley, 1999) There are approximately 5,200 Traveller families or an estimated 31,000 Travellers in Ireland, and there are currently 1200 Traveller families living on the roadside with no facilities. (Department of Environment 2000)
Travellers in Ireland have been subject to racism at both the individual and the institutional level, which is reflected in outcomes for travellers in terms of accommodation, health, education, and employment. Official policy in recent decades has shifted from viewing travellers as deviant and in need of integration to viewing travellers as a distinct ethnic group.
There have been a number of ...