Mr. Martin Collins:

To begin with, I am not ashamed to say that I am 52 years of age. I am 35 years a Traveller activist and a Traveller advocate. In those 35 years of activism, I am not aware of an instance where the local authority proposed to build a site and there was no opposition. I am not aware of a single instance where it was welcomed with open arms. Maybe my colleagues have a different experience but I certainly have not. In terms of acquiescence, we have tried negotiating, persuasion and dealing with local communities. I remember in 1986 going to Tallaght when a site was being proposed. It was a big mistake on my part. The meeting was a big community centre with about 300 settled people and three Travellers. I was lucky to get out with my bloody life in trying to persuade the local community to accept a site.

I am all for dialogue but it is about how it is framed. In terms of acquiescence, human rights are non-negotiable. Human rights in terms of access to accommodation are not something to be compromised or to be negotiated. It is a human right and it needs to be framed in that way. We have always adopted the approach where information, education and legislation have a huge bearing and a huge influence on people's behaviour.

I refer to one practical thing in terms of accommodation. There is no constitutional right, or any other legal right, to accommodation in this country and I know there is a campaign to have incorporated into our Constitution the covenant on economic, social and cultural rights where the right to accommodation can be invoked before the courts. We do not have that facility at the moment but I know there is a campaign going on to have that covenant incorporated into Irish law. In fact, the United Nations committee recommended on a number of occasions that the Government incorporate the covenant on economic, social and cultural rights into Irish law so that these rights on accommodation can be invoked before the courts, so that needs to happen.

In terms of being politicised, people started at different times on different journeys but since 1985 I have seen huge politicisation and huge consciousness raising within the community and it is not just among Traveller organisations. Every time a Traveller is discriminated against in a public house, a hotel or in public swimming baths, his or her consciousness is raised around human rights issues. The oppressor can do that much more effectively than we can within the community. It is important that people get organised and mobilised and that we develop alliances with other grassroots and other social movements, which is something we could do a lot more of. That is why I am glad to say - I know the Irish Traveller Movement, ITM, is taking the lead on this - that on 7 April there is a mass rally around housing and accommodation. ITM is trying to mobilise Traveller groups to get involved in that. We need to see a lot more of that. We did it in the early years with the Irish anti-apartheid movement, with Kader Asmal calling for laws to outlaw discrimination. Even at that time, people were talking about changing attitudes. We are having the very same debate now. We need strong laws as well.