Ms Brigid Quilligan:

My name is Brigid Quilligan and I am a Traveller woman from Killarney. I am the manager of Kerry Travellers Health & Community Development Project. On behalf of our organisation and the Travellers in Kerry, I thank the committee for the opportunity to make a presentation on the topic of mental health issues affecting the Traveller community. Ours is a county-wide community development project which incorporates a health action zone. We work with Travellers who are static, those who are nomadic and those who have emigrated but who find it difficult to access services abroad. We operate from the principles of community development, equality, participation, empowerment, inclusion and self-determination.

We have been working for 21 years to support the local communities of Travellers in Kerry to respond proactively to the issues facing us. We have developed innovative programmes and initiatives in the areas of health, education, culture, identity, accommodation, leadership, Traveller economy, employment, enterprise, horse ownership, gender-based violence and youth development. Our work has evolved over the years, as has our analysis. We are fortunate to have the benefit of a strong HSE community work department in the region, strong links with mental health services locally and nationally, a strong Traveller health unit in the region and a Traveller community that is proactive and committed to creating change.

Using a social determinants of health model, we see clear implications for health associated with poor living conditions and high levels of exclusion and discrimination faced by Travellers every day. All these issues, experienced to a greater or lesser extent by most Travellers, impact negatively on both mental and physical well-being. While we work on supporting access to mental health services, in order to have an appropriate response to prevention we must look at the root causes of the mental health issues and suicide epidemic among Travellers. We use the word "epidemic" because it is an epidemic. There is no single Traveller in the country or in this room who does not know the heartbreak, pain and hopelessness of seeing somebody one loves spiral into darkness in mental health, thinking that suicide is the only option. Fine young men, women and children are dying before our eyes. Travellers in Kerry are diverse. We have the most beautiful county in the country, and this sometimes is part of the problem. The beauty belies the mental health crisis that the Traveller constituents of Kerry are experiencing. A strong, proud and resilient community, we are at breaking point. There is no person in the community who has not experienced the devastation of losing somebody he or she loves to suicide. We watch our loved ones battle anxiety, depression, severe mental illness and addiction.

In preparing this submission, we consulted 61 individuals from a diverse range of backgrounds and experience within the Traveller community. The findings were that the Traveller community in Kerry feels under siege, externally and internally, and that our mental and physical health is suffering. The key message from the community is that there is a mental health and suicide crisis in the community. All 61 respondents had lost family members or close friends to suicide. Five respondents had attempted suicide and 22 are being treated for depression. Seven respondents were hospitalised in the past five years for psychiatric problems. The abuse of alcohol, prescription drugs, illegal drugs and gambling were named as co-existing problems. We asked them what was the one message they wanted the committee to hear. Overwhelmingly it was that they had been treated badly from a young age because of their Traveller identity, that this had created great trauma and that the mental health crisis in the Traveller community is a result of the denial of, and attack on, Traveller identity, ethnicity, culture, history and ways.

The community feels that the work the Traveller projects the mental health services in the community work department do is very valuable. However, it is viewed as addressing the symptoms, not the causes. A culture of blame is perceived to exist, where Travellers are blamed for their oppression, the marginalisation and discrimination they experience and the poor outcomes they experience in the areas of health, education, employment, integration and equality. The hurt and pain the community feels as a result of its mistreatment over generations by the State was relayed time and again. There is a sadness that addiction, suicide and intra-Traveller conflict appear to be increasing and an analysis that the community is turning on each other.

The 2016 census showed that there were 998 Travellers in Kerry. Conservatively, we believe the figure to be 50% higher.

We have a large nomadic population in Killarney, the second largest in Ireland. The nomadic Traveller community from Kerry travels within Ireland, the UK, the US, Europe, Australia and Canada. There has been a strong history and culture in Kerry of Travellers from all towns travelling frequently for short spells between the UK and Ireland for the past 50 years. We have no concrete research on this, just anecdotal evidence but we believe that nomadic Travellers who self-identify as such fare better in terms of their mental health.

There is a national unconscious bias against Travellers. It is the last acceptable form of racism in Ireland. Being a Traveller and being proud of one's identity feels like an act of resistance. There is no acknowledgement of the pain, hurt, abuse and racism that generations of Irish Travellers in this State have suffered.

I will now give a brief outline of our recommendations which are covered in depth in our written submission. The main recommendation is that Traveller mental health and suicide be approached and named as a national crisis. We need a different approach to dealing with Traveller mental health. It must be taken much more seriously because too many of our people are dying and effective policies are not being implemented. We call for an independent national inquiry into the treatment of Travellers since the formation of the State and for enhanced legal protection of Travellers. We recommend the introduction of targeted mental health programmes specifically for Travellers and a national media campaign to highlight the issues around mental health for Travellers. We call for a review of services to Travellers, the representation of Travellers across all Departments in Ireland and for an ethnic identifier to be implemented across all State services. Anti-racism and discrimination training for all staff must be prioritised by the Department of Health. In order to address inequality, Travellers must be central to the design and delivery of services to their community. The inequality in the political representation of Travellers must be addressed by the State. Community development departments must be reinstated within all CHO areas.

On behalf of Kerry Travellers, I thank the committee for listening to our presentation and welcome the opportunity to elaborate on some of the points made and to answer questions.