Mr. Martin Collins:

Before I respond to Deputy O'Callaghan, I would like to pick up on a point made by Mr. McCann. I do not think we can overestimate or have the capacity to adequately convey the significance and symbolic value of the Taoiseach of the State standing in the Dáil and making a declaration to the House and the country that the State unequivocally recognises Travellers as a distinct ethnic minority group.

Mr. McCann referred to self-respect, feeling valued and recognised and having one's identity recognised. As Ms Fay said, ethnicity is not a panacea, but it is quite important and would be a very good starting point. It would inform a range of other areas in terms of how services are designed and delivered and how the needs of Travellers are met.

I would suggest that Travellers are completely invisible in schools because our culture, identity and history are not reflected in the curriculum. One could argue that the curriculum and education system as it is currently constructed is part of the assimilationist agenda. The same is true of accommodation policies and other areas.

A declaration of ethnicity is the beginning, rather than an end in itself. It needs to be followed up by a national plan on how we support ethnicity in a practical sense. Nomadism and the right to travel is important. That right has been suppressed by the State because there is a view that nomadism is a backward, primitive way of life and has no place in a civilised, western and democratic society. It has been relegated to something that is deviant and backward. There are practical implications.

Travellers are completely invisible in our museums and heritage centres. It is as if we do not exist. When we commemorated 1916 this year, Travellers were completely excluded and invisible. I would like to point out that Travellers were actively involved in and inextricably linked to all of these events in terms of Irish history, including Independence, the Easter Rising, the subsequent Civil War and so forth.

As we all know, history is always about people who own the mines, not about those who work in them. Those who are part of the elite and have privilege and power are those who get to interpret and write history, and do so from their world view.

There are symbolic implications, but there are also practical implications, as I have just outlined. I do not know whether that answers the question.