Mr. Patrick McDonagh:

In the summer before I began university, I was slightly anxious.

School was mostly fine for me with maybe one or two negative experiences but it was mostly quite good. It was quite a good school. During the summer I was concerned as to whether it would come up. I moved into Trinity Halls and on my first proper day in Trinity someone said it would be horrendous to have a Traveller as a flatmate, which obviously was quite an interesting exposure to college. I have been lucky that it has been quite a rare occurrence for me. That was my first real impression of being in Trinity. All of my friends know I am a Traveller but sometimes it takes a few months to say it. Not everyone would say they are Traveller with people saying such things in front of them. I have a strong Northern accent. No one in Trinity thought I was a Traveller. People see what they want to see and they see someone coming down from the North and that is all. People will say what they usually think. I do not blame Travellers for not wanting to say they are Travellers because quite rightly they fear it might impact on their social life or work life or even getting a job in the first place.