Fiach MacConghail (Independent) | Oireachtas source

As I am not a member of the committee, I thank the Chairman for allowing me to contribute. I am present because I want to bear witness to the stories told. I support the Chairman's view because it is important to have all of this information on the record in order that historians and others can look back on them. It is embarrassing for somebody such as me to feel I have a right as an Oireachtas Member to somehow convey or transfer ethnicity to fellow citizens. I also acknowledge the artist and playwright, Rosie McDonagh, who is in the gallery, someone with whom I have worked, collaborated and fought on many occasions. I thank the representatives for their vivid, lucid and articulate presentations which have given me clarity. I have one question for Ms Quilligan which emanates from Mr. Collins's comments on the Good Friday Agreement and the disparity between the North and the South. They outlined a number of compelling stories, particularly in the context of the suicide rate. What are the practical differences between being a Traveller in the two jurisdictions? Are there headline issues that would help the committee to clarify what recognition of ethnicity would bring to the Traveller community in the South?