Mr. Ian McDonagh:

On role models, I dreamed of being a garda. I fell in love with the uniform. That is what I always wanted. When I was younger, I did not realise one had to work to get the uniform. I just believed one put it on and had the job. It is not until one enters the education system that one realises it is tough to get the uniform. My parents may not have worked in the education system but they have been role models for us. They have helped us and got us up every morning. They brought us to school and showed us the values they never benefitted from. This is what kept me in the system.

To help young Travellers stay in school, resources are required. Some Traveller children may feel lost because they are ashamed to open up in the classroom and say they do not understand something. Addressing this does not have to involve a front-line initiative or rubbing it into everyone's face. If a Traveller child has somewhere to walk into, such as a homework club, it is beneficial. I can bring any question or part of my homework to my homework club teacher and say I need help with it because I could not understand it in class. This is what has kept me in school. The teacher has shown me the value of not sitting at home and that one can change the world if one uses one's voice.

In colleges, there is a Traveller participation rate of 1%. This is because Travellers are not given a hand to get to the colleges. We need the resources. It is rare to see Traveller girls stay in the education system but it is great to see when they do. They also have a role at home and do not want to kill their culture at home. They have to go home and look after their siblings but the education system does not recognise this. It operates on the basis of giving out homework that is to be done the next day. That may be fair in some homes but, in others, the girls and the lads, like me, need to help out. We also need to prioritise our homes and get them up to a high standard. Our lives cannot just revolve around saying we need to go up to the room, lock ourselves in and get the homework done. We need to help our parents because they are the ones that put us on our path. We need to give something back to our parents. The only way of doing this is to get the resources from the Department.

On keeping Travellers in school, I find it hard myself. Some individuals ask me why I am still in school. The answer is that I want to be. Traveller children need to be tough and stand up to peers who have left school and tell them that was their choice. They need to say their own choice is to stay in school or, in my case, to go on and be a garda. I know many individuals who say I will never become a garda. I will fight to do so. I will have until I am 35 to enter the Garda. If I do not get in, having applied year in, year out, I can ask why. There has to be a reason if I keep applying and do not get in. Traveller children usually put in the effort first but when they get knocked, there is no one to lift them back up. If the resources are in the school, a teacher can always walk over and offer help. If I fall, I have my homework club teacher to pick me back up. It is great. My parents do not have the education to help me when I come home but I have the homework club. If there were more homework clubs, Traveller support groups, etc., we would see an increase in participation. Traveller children want to move through the system but they do not want to change their culture; they want to staying living as Travellers but need to see the value of education.

Travellers may stay in school but when they look for jobs, employers might ask whether they should be given one because they are Travellers. I have worked in hotels and now work in a nursing home doing activities. I walked in and said I am a Traveller. I never hid it in the interview. It was up to the employer to give me the job. My cousin is a senior carer in the home. She walked out of school at 15 and later participated in Youthreach. She had children and then became a senior carer. In September, she is going back to education to do nursing. Changes can be made but the resources have to be put in place. It is great to have the yellow flag programme in schools but we need the resources in the classrooms to keep the children there. We have the resources. I got resources. Throughout my schooling, I had resources. When starting the leaving certificate, all the resources got taken away because I needed certain subjects. There was no time to provide the resources given my timetable but I can always walk up to my year head and say I do not want to do PE on a certain day and want instead to do additional biology, for example.

The teachers will help me because they know I have the potential to go on and they want to see this happen. It is fair and well to blame the teachers and say they do not want to teach Traveller children, but children have to fulfil their roles too. It is a 50-50 road here. Children and teachers need to push together if any goals are to be met. In life, there are two sides to every story and agreement must be reached. In this case, resources need to be invested to keep these Traveller children in school.

My role models are my parents and the community gardaí who I see walking around every day. I used to ask them how they got into the Garda - about the requirements, etc. - which may have been the wrong question. By the time I was 11 years of age, I knew all the requirements for getting into the Garda. Every time I watch gardaí passing out, I wonder whether any of them are Travellers. I want to get there. I would not take any other job. I do not want any other job. I want to join the Garda. I want to make a change. As we can see, sometimes there is discrimination in the Garda. Some gardaí may discriminate and others may not.

I want to join the Garda to show that there can be a member of the force from the Traveller community. That would enable me to build links with Traveller children and other disadvantaged children and see whether I can make changes in their lives and inspire them to keep going to school and keep working. I think education is the weapon of life. If one does not have education, one will find life tough. My parents got through life. In the 21st century, we cannot sit back and say we do not need education. We need education for everything we need and for anything we want. The Government needs to get resources in place for Traveller children and indeed for all children. There is no point saying we will give everything to Traveller children while isolating other children. We need to get these resources for all children.

We do not know what is happening behind closed doors. It is great for us to go to school every day with a clean uniform and a happy face, but what is inside us? We can all show off these happy faces, but what is inside us? These children may want to do well, but they may have to walk out of school for other reasons. If the resources were there, every Traveller child and every other child would do well. The main thing is to provide the services, get children into school and keep them in school for as long as possible. No pressure should be put on children because suicide may arise and stuff like that. The main thing is to educate children. When they are educated, it will be up to themselves to make their own opportunities.