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Travellers must embrace education – councillors


Edwin McGreal

Two high-profile county councillors have called on Travellers themselves to embrace education in order to escape the cycle of poverty and unemployment that exists among many members of the Travelling community.
Cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council, Cllr Michael Burke and Cllr Michael Kilcoyne made the observations after discussion of the findings of Fr Mac Gréil’s report - Emancipation of the Travelling People - with The Mayo News.
The report calls for an ‘integrated pluralism’ approach whereby Travellers would live alongside settled people whilst retaining their own culture rather than be assimilated into a settled society. Assimilation is something which Fr Mac Gréil feels would seriously harm Traveller culture.
In his report, Fr Mac Gréil stresses that the need for higher levels of education among Travellers is ‘very urgent and requires very serious and sensitive planning and delivery’.
“The handing on of the Travellers’ own culture must be part of any education system devised. The involvement of teachers from the Travelling community should be an integral part of the new education and training programme,” observed Fr Mac Gréil in the report.
According to Castlebar based Cllr Michael Kilcoyne, the need to embrace education is absolutely crucial for the improvement of the lot of Travellers in Mayo.
“Any change has to be tied to education. But a cynicism towards education is endemic in the Travelling culture. It is a two-way street. Settled people need to meet the Travellers halfway but the Travellers have to come halfway too. If they don’t pursue education, then they are going to have very few opportunities,” Cllr Kilcoyne told The Mayo News.
The prevalence of early school-leaving among many of the Travelling community can, Ballinrobe based Cllr Michael Burke argues, have a negative impact on their welfare in the long term.
“The big concern I would have is that, and this just doesn’t apply to Travellers, we allow, as a society, far too many young people to leave school early without sufficient education or training. The problem can be then that a disproportionate amount of early school leavers drift into petty crime and this applies to both Travellers and settled people,” said Cllr Burke.
Both councillors were very firm in one belief - that certain obligations should dovetail with those Travellers on social welfare.
“There needs to be a process put in place to encourage Travellers - and indeed all early school leavers - back towards education and training and that Government assistance and benefits would not accrue as highly unless these efforts were being made. That is not a matter for Mayo County Council however, it is a central Government issue but it is something I do feel strongly on,” Cllr Burke told The Mayo News.
It is a point Michael Kilcoyne agrees on.
“What tends to happen with a lot of Travellers is they will do national school, a year or two in secondary school and then will leave, start drawing benefit and some might marry very young. Education needs to be tied to benefit. Many Travellers who do continue their education make a very good impression,” said Cllr Kilcoyne.
Mona Munyikwa, co-ordinator with the Mayo Travellers Support Group (MTSG), makes a general observation about the corrosive effect of social welfare:
“I’ve got this theory that Travellers and even humanity has almost been destroyed by throwing social welfare at people … you’ve got no sense of responsibility on social welfare. If you want to destroy somebody, give them no sense of responsibility,” Ms Munyikwa told The Mayo News.
However, she also points out how difficult it has been for many Travellers to find gainful employment. Fr Mac Gréil’s report outlines how in 2006, at the height of the Celtic Tiger, the rate of gainful employment for Travellers was only 25.1 per cent, in contrast to 91.5 per cent for the national labour force.
“During the economic boom you can see the statistics about how many people were employed from the general population, and we brought in people who couldn’t even speak English - and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that - but it is an answer to the question about employment. We had a position where some people who might not have been able to understand instructions were still able to go ahead and get a job but we still didn’t want to employ Travellers,” Ms Munyikwa observed.

Travellers must embrace education – councillors


Edwin McGreal

Two high-profile county councillors have called on Travellers themselves to embrace education in order to escape the cycle of poverty and unemployment that exists among many members of the Travelling community.
Cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council, Cllr Michael Burke and Cllr Michael Kilcoyne made the observations after discussion of the findings of Fr Mac Gréil’s report - Emancipation of the Travelling People - with The Mayo News.
The report calls for an ‘integrated pluralism’ approach whereby Travellers would live alongside settled people whilst retaining their own culture rather than be assimilated into a settled society. Assimilation is something which Fr Mac Gréil feels would seriously harm Traveller culture.
In his report, Fr Mac Gréil stresses that the need for higher levels of education among Travellers is ‘very urgent and requires very serious and sensitive planning and delivery’.
“The handing on of the Travellers’ own culture must be part of any education system devised. The involvement of teachers from the Travelling community should be an integral part of the new education and training programme,” observed Fr Mac Gréil in the report.
According to Castlebar based Cllr Michael Kilcoyne, the need to embrace education is absolutely crucial for the improvement of the lot of Travellers in Mayo.
“Any change has to be tied to education. But a cynicism towards education is endemic in the Travelling culture. It is a two-way street. Settled people need to meet the Travellers halfway but the Travellers have to come halfway too. If they don’t pursue education, then they are going to have very few opportunities,” Cllr Kilcoyne told The Mayo News.
The prevalence of early school-leaving among many of the Travelling community can, Ballinrobe based Cllr Michael Burke argues, have a negative impact on their welfare in the long term.
“The big concern I would have is that, and this just doesn’t apply to Travellers, we allow, as a society, far too many young people to leave school early without sufficient education or training. The problem can be then that a disproportionate amount of early school leavers drift into petty crime and this applies to both Travellers and settled people,” said Cllr Burke.
Both councillors were very firm in one belief - that certain obligations should dovetail with those Travellers on social welfare.
“There needs to be a process put in place to encourage Travellers - and indeed all early school leavers - back towards education and training and that Government assistance and benefits would not accrue as highly unless these efforts were being made. That is not a matter for Mayo County Council however, it is a central Government issue but it is something I do feel strongly on,” Cllr Burke told The Mayo News.
It is a point Michael Kilcoyne agrees on.
“What tends to happen with a lot of Travellers is they will do national school, a year or two in secondary school and then will leave, start drawing benefit and some might marry very young. Education needs to be tied to benefit. Many Travellers who do continue their education make a very good impression,” said Cllr Kilcoyne.
Mona Munyikwa, co-ordinator with the Mayo Travellers Support Group (MTSG), makes a general observation about the corrosive effect of social welfare:
“I’ve got this theory that Travellers and even humanity has almost been destroyed by throwing social welfare at people … you’ve got no sense of responsibility on social welfare. If you want to destroy somebody, give them no sense of responsibility,” Ms Munyikwa told The Mayo News.
However, she also points out how difficult it has been for many Travellers to find gainful employment. Fr Mac Gréil’s report outlines how in 2006, at the height of the Celtic Tiger, the rate of gainful employment for Travellers was only 25.1 per cent, in contrast to 91.5 per cent for the national labour force.
“During the economic boom you can see the statistics about how many people were employed from the general population, and we brought in people who couldn’t even speak English - and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that - but it is an answer to the question about employment. We had a position where some people who might not have been able to understand instructions were still able to go ahead and get a job but we still didn’t want to employ Travellers,” Ms Munyikwa observed.

Judge’s comments ‘painful’ - MTSG

Judge’s comments ‘painful’ - MTSG


People in authority should take proactive steps towards helping Travellers according to the Mayo Travellers Support Group

Edwin McGreal

The co-ordinator of the Mayo Travellers Support Group (MTSG) has slammed a district court judge who told a group of Travellers that they shouldn’t be surprised if they are refused service in businesses in Castlebar after being involved in a midday brawl on the streets of the town earlier this year.
Judge Kevin Kilraine made the comments in Castlebar District Court last June when four Travellers appeared before him in relation to the midday brawl on March 23 last which left traffic at a standstill in the town.
“You are the very people who want to be treated the same as anyone else and want to be served in every pub yet you leave the people of Castlebar in fear and dread. The people of Castlebar will draw their own conclusions and don’t blame people if they don’t serve you. Your actions are what will have caused that, not your name or not who you are,” said Judge Kilraine.
However Mona Munyikwa, co-ordinator of the MTSG said such comments only serve to perpetuate marginalisation of Travellers.
“That, for us, in MTSG, was so, so painful because we’re dealing every month with issues of really decent, honest, straightforward people who happen to be Travellers and who are reprimanded in shops, who are scolded like dogs in front of their children and the impact of that on their whole self-image is huge.
“They’re constantly looking around them to see are they being followed. For somebody as high as a judge to come out with something like that almost gives license to shop-owners and very, very ignorant and deprived people themselves in terms of experience and insight to keep harassing Travellers because it makes them feel better about themselves,” said Ms Munyikwa.
Cases of anti-social behaviour and crime among Travellers – such as the above instance – certainly play a role in society’s perception of Travellers. However, Fr Micheál Mac Gréil’s recent report argues that near exclusive media coverage of this aspect of Travellers’ behaviour only serves to widen the chasm between Travellers and settled people.
“The problem of deviant behaviour of a minority of Travellers covers almost all of the public media’s interest in this community, which is aggravating Traveller deviance, undermining the good reputation of Travelling people and perpetuating negative stereotypes of the Travellers in general. It is probably leading to a ‘self-fulfilling prophecy’ - ie creating an expectation of deviance from Travellers and making it difficult for them to live a viable life in society without being deviant.
“At the same time, leaders among Travellers should be involved in curtailing the deviance of their own members,” said Fr Mac Gréil.
Cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council, Cllr Michael Burke, is based in Ballinrobe, which is home to a sizeable Traveller population. He states that it is only a small percentage of the Travelling community who are involved in deviance but it remains an issue nonetheless.
“In Ballinrobe 95 per cent of Travellers create no problems, but, unfortunately, there is a small percentage among whom anti-social behaviour is very prevalent. They make life very difficult for the other 95 per cent. Just because there is one or two bad apples in a box, it doesn’t mean that you should discard the rest,” stated Cllr Burke, who argues in the accompanying story (‘Go, move, shift?’) about the importance of education to reduce deviant behaviour.
Cllr Michael Kilcoyne, who is based in Castlebar where there is also a large Traveller community, also concedes it is that only a small percentage of Travellers who cause disruption. However, he adds that the impact of this is pronounced, referring to figures in the report which show a figure as high as 79.6 per cent from a survey conducted ‘would be reluctant to buy a house next door to a Traveller’.
“The figures showing hostility from settled people towards Travellers is maybe based on experience. I have dealt with a lot of Travellers. By and large most of them are okay but some are difficult enough. Those who are difficult contribute a disproportionate amount of aggravation in a community. The reality is most people want to give them a fair chance but they must live in a normal way as well,” stated Cllr Kilcoyne.
However, Mona Munyikwa argues that this figure of people reluctant to live next door to a Traveller is based on ignorance.
“I live in an estate where there are lots of Travellers and I am very happy in it. It is great to see Traveller children playing around the place and the community is alive with youngsters,” she said.
Taking her lead from Fr Mac Gréil’s comments about what he feels is the negative stereotype against Travellers, she urged politicians to be strong on the issue.
“A lot of our policies (in relation to Travellers) really should be driven by councillors, if we believe in democracy. Because there’s so much press against them, emphasising what the minority of Travellers might do, people don’t want to be associated with being on the side of Travellers. Our stance in the MTSG is that you are on the side of humanity, you are on the side of society … a bird never flew on one wing. We really have to be working together and we really have so much to learn from each other.

Housing of Travellers still a huge issue

Housing of Travellers still a huge issue


Edwin McGreal

If there is one issue in relation to Travellers in Mayo that will provoke debate, it is that of housing.
In Ballina and Ballinrobe, many have been the cries that they have ‘taken plenty’ of Traveller families on local authority waiting lists.
Other areas, such as Westport and Belmullet, where there is a miniscule population of Travellers, argue that Travellers don’t want to come there because they have no ties with the area. And stuck in the middle is Mayo County Council who have an obligation to house people on waiting lists, including Travellers, as best they see fit.
“In terms of Ballinrobe I don’t think it can be argued that we haven’t taken more than our fair share of Travellers here while other towns in Mayo have taken none or very few,” said Cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council, Ballinrobe based Cllr Michael Burke.
“All towns need to take responsibility in this matter and not overburden any town. It is not in the interests of the Traveller community themselves and they would accept that. The more Travellers that are in an area, the harder it is for them to mix with settled people,” added Cllr Burke.
It is an interesting point. Of course accusations can be made of political point scoring and ‘not in my back yard’ politics with comments like these. Nonetheless Cllr Michael Kilcoyne in Castlebar says it is his experience that this thought - that Travellers do not want to live among a large crowd of Travellers - is prevalent among many Traveller families.
“I would have Travellers coming to me to be placed in a council house and they would actually be anxious that they would be nowhere near another Traveller family. It is hard to say that they are trying to pull themselves up and be ‘normal’ because what is ‘normal’? But they are striving to get out of the rut they find themselves in,” said Cllr Kilcoyne.
However, this opinion is far from universal. In his report Fr Mac Gréil, who has spent time live among Travellers on the roadside, argues the counter point.
“Ideally serviced sites or permanent housing should accommodate between six to ten families in close proximity because of the extended family tradition and the need for mutual support from fellow Traveller families in a predominantly settled community.”
He also calls for the repeal of the 2002 Housing Act which removed from Traveller families any rights for parking on publicly owned lands.
Speaking in 2008 on behalf of the Mayo Travellers Support Group, Rose Marie Maughan outlined the importance of an ability to be nomadic to Traveller culture.
“As a Traveller who has spent several years working towards building bridges between our communities in our county, I ask the public to find it in their hearts to try to understand how important being nomadic and retaining our culture is to us. I ask them to assist me in my work of reaching a positive/humane solution for both communities. That is, I believe, the provision of well-managed Traveller specific accommodation in our county,” stated Ms Maughan.
The Mayo County Council Traveller Accommodation Programme 2009-2013 made no plans for provision of transient sites for Travellers in Mayo and a 2009 Strategic Policy Committee meeting on Housing was told that an assessment of need in 2008 recorded no requirement for additional halting-site accommodation as part of the 2009-2013 programme. It is patently obvious that there is no easy solution. The question that remains is whether there is a will to find a solution under the difficult circumstances that currently exist.

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