Mr. Patrick McDonagh:

It is very important because Travellers are a minority group. To put it bluntly, there are few things more dangerous than being a minority group in a democracy that does not like us. We see political parties of all persuasions targeting Travellers as a way of gaining electoral support.

That is not a positive atmosphere to have around.

My experience has been being asked why I have many settled friends and why I am good friends with them. Most of my friends are settled people. I still believe there is a strong element within the Irish population who do not much like Travellers, and that is putting it mildly. The same happens in Britain as in Ireland - passing laws that make it illegal to live like a Traveller. It is burn them out or push them out. The history of the State shows it in so many ways. I refer to the anti-Traveller rhetoric in the Dáil in the 1940s and 1950s. There is the Report of the Commission on Itinerancy. It has increasingly created more of a dangerous atmosphere for Travellers. I am not saying it is life and death, but that is not the point in some sense. However, it is bad. Being anti-Traveller often wins candidates support, and unless something is done to address that, it will only get worse.

In fairness, the State has made some improvements. Obviously, there was the formal recognition in 2017, but as I say, formal recognition is in some ways meaningless if no steps are taken to safeguard and protect that group.

By addressing hate speech, it would make it illegal to incite hatred or provoke anger, whether it be through the burning of a halting site, the blocking of halting sites, getting a Traveller removed from a housing estate or whatever the case may be. By doing that, the hope in the short term is that it will discourage it. It will not change the current generation's perception or opinions. There is no such thing as an overnight cure. The point is that it becomes a long-term process of changing views to recognise that it is wrong to do that.

I have mentioned many problems but all of my solutions are not overnight solutions. These are ten or 20-year solutions. That is the best way of viewing that. Unless something is done now, there were will be same ideas in 20 years.