Dr. Robbie McVeigh:

The broad point about self-identification is interesting. Many UN mechanisms are completely based on self-identification so if one tells a committee one is a member of a group, ipso facto one is a member of that group. We are already asking for a much higher standard of proof than many UN mechanisms but there is no harm in this. It is right and proper that if groups are to be protected from race discrimination then it should not be an arbitrary process. The English courts took it seriously because they do not want anybody to just be able to turn up and state he or she is a member of an ethnic minority and therefore has suffered discrimination. The Race Relations Act in Britain was transforming legislation and was defined precisely to protect ethnic groups and not other groups who may be discriminated against in different ways. This is why it is important that we bring a rigorous evidence test to the question. As I stated at the start, but it bears emphasis, if I were paid to be devil's advocate it would be hard for me to construct a case against Traveller ethnicity. There is too much evidence with court cases and everything else. The only position the State can have is to continue to deny it without providing evidence to support this position. It is an intolerable position.