Ms Eileen Flynn:

No two people on the island of Ireland are the same. We are all very different but should be treated with equal value, including every child on the island of Ireland. Why is it different for a Traveller child? I struggled through the education system. This was not because I lived on a halting site and had family around me. That part of being a Traveller is absolutely lovely to me and living on a halting site was a great experience. What was not lovely for me were the conditions we lived in. We could go a week without heating. In my family's home now, the roof has nearly collapsed on top of us. We need to get landlords who can fix problems in our homes. If this happened in the settled population, the services would be provided but they are not provided on halting sites. There are challenges faced by young Traveller children. On a Christmas morning, we could have Traveller children coming to the house for water at Labre Park, where I was born and reared. It is not because we come from a close-knit community, although there is a lovely sense of community; it is not the halting site that is the problem but rather the living conditions and the services not being provided to the Traveller community. This has a dramatic impact on education and health.

With regard to ethnicity, on 1 March 2017, Travellers were recognised as an ethnic minority group in Ireland. Unfortunately, this was just a statement and off we had to go with that recognition. The idea was that these were happy days for Travellers. Unfortunately, those happy days have not yet come about. It is one thing to say Travellers are recognised as an ethnic minority group but another to see action and for Travellers to feel valued. I am a new mother and my child is 50% Traveller, 50% settled and she is 100% of both cultures. My husband and I were chatting the other day about what will happen if our child gets called a knacker in school. I had never thought of this before and I hope it does not happen to my child. I hope she never has to go through the struggles I had in the Irish education system. That was just 12 years ago and going through second and third level education was a real struggle because of cost, accommodation and not having the support at home that I needed.

My father was literate but my three older siblings were in segregated schools, unfortunately. I am dyslexic and my family did not understand homework so could not help me with it. With all those struggles I still managed to get a degree. I was a very lucky Traveller woman who was able to get a degree with supports from some services but not every child in my community is that lucky. We need schools to know that a Traveller girl or young man does not necessarily want to go off and get married. Our children should be valued in the education system, especially as now times are changing, as my brother always says. We should be normalising Traveller recognition and it should be okay to be different. We should teach Traveller culture in the same way we teach maths. There are great Traveller people who are qualified teachers and they can teach Traveller culture and be part of that educational change.

It needs to change in order that we can have a better future for our children.

Ms Joyce and others have spoken about history. To know where one is going, one must know where one came from. If I was a Traveller child in primary or secondary school and told that I was going to learn about Traveller culture, I would feel more valued in the education system. I came through years of school not being valued and wondering who I was and why was there nothing in the books about who I am, or having others tell me who I am. I always knew I was different because of my background but I do not want that for Billy or any other Traveller child and to go through what I went through in the education system, and I was very lucky. There are worse stories in the education system than mine and we cannot have that in future. We must change. We can start with the people in this room and start today. We are discussing recommendations. Let us work together on the Traveller Culture and History in Education Bill 2018 and pass it. That could be the first step.