Ms Brigid Quilligan:

Like others, I attribute the high suicide rate to years of extreme marginalisation. People internalise it. Consider any minority across the globe that has been marginalised or excluded for generations, for example, the Aboriginal peoples of Australia or America or the Maori of New Zealand. The suicide rate among such peoples is higher than it is among the majority population.

Ms Fay and Mr. Collins, whose organisation deals with health matters more than ours, might address my next point. There is an issue in accessing mental health services. If Travellers can access them, they must then justify their culture to their counsellors. Some Travellers do not have access to a doctor because they cannot register with one. A difficulty is presented by the fact that it is not culturally appropriate to access mental health services and that the person with whom the Traveller is dealing does not value that culture. Not only must one discuss one's mental illness, but one must also justify one's ethnicity. That has been my personal experience, but, of the Travellers present who I know, each has been impacted on by suicide. It is an epidemic. I come from Killarney and the number of people close to me who have passed away through suicide in recent years is shocking.

A component of this issue is the crisis of identity and not feeling part of anything. People need to have a sense of belonging. Thank God for the increased awareness of the fact that good mental health is as important as physical well-being. Mr. Thomas McCann, a Traveller psychotherapist, refers to the link between mental health and oppression. The effect on our people is staggering. It is a generational issue. My earliest incident of discrimination was as a four year old in school. My young son is 13 years of age and attends a good school that has good policies, yet everyday he must correct someone who uses the word "knacker" and act like an advocate for his community. Can members imagine the weight on a 13 year old's shoulders? If someone makes an anti-Traveller comment, he feels he must correct it. This happens everywhere our children go. It is no surprise that the suicide rate is higher, but I am sorry that I am not able to elaborate further on the matter. Perhaps Ms Fay might contribute.