Mr. Ian McDonagh:

I thank the Cathaoirleach for the invitation. I am a 22-year-old Irish Traveller and it is an honour to be here to speak about my views of education in Ireland as a young Traveller who completed second level education to leaving certificate and went on to study mortuary science at the Irish College of Funeral Directing and Embalming. I am currently Ireland’s first ever Traveller funeral director and embalmer, a title I hope to bring to other members of the Traveller community in the years to come.

Statistics about suicide were read out. As I say, it is not a statistic to me. I am the embalmer who opens up the body bags of young Travellers and is able to bring these people on their last journey. It is sad, because I never get the opportunity to take an elderly Traveller from a nursing home or hospital. It is all young people who come into my care. Anyone who comes into my care from the Traveller or any other community is treated with respect. As I say, racism still comes into funeral homes and embalming rooms, even when people are deceased.

In January 2016, I became the first Traveller to participate in and win an award at the BT Young Scientists Exhibition, winning second place. My project was titled "Does the lunar cycle play a role in equine birth patterns?". In January 2017, I entered the BT Young Scientist Exhibition for the second time and won the Jack Restan award for my project which looked at the cures and folklore of the Irish Traveller community. I was the first student in my school to enter and take two places in that exhibition.

As the age of 12, I became deeply involved in making my local area in Galway city a safer place to live, including having speed ramps installed in my housing estate and numerous green areas approved. When I watched a documentary about a young lad, Jake, who was killed in Kilkenny because of a lack of speed ramps, I realised that family had to lose a family member in order for speed ramps to be installed. This was my first taste of politics and has given me a lifeline passion and interest. I hope in the coming years that I will further pursue this and become a member of the Government for the people of Galway West and give those from disadvantaged and minority backgrounds a voice at every decision-making table.

There is no point in all of us sitting back and allowing other people to take our place when we can put ourselves forward and be politicians. We can do it if we want to, and we will do it. As I say to my community, it does not matter what party a Traveller puts themselves forward for, Travellers should vote them in. It is the person they are voting for. It is not the case that the party will not do the work; rather, it is a person who will change things that people should have working for them. If we want to make a change, we need a Traveller in every political party. We cannot do it on our own.

Having been formally recognised as an ethnic minority in 2017, I hope Travellers young and old feel proud of their identity. Since being recognised as an ethnic minority, a great amount of work and discussion has taken place around the teaching of Traveller history, language and culture in primary and secondary schools. While this is yet to be enacted, I hope it will bring about positive changes for the future of the Traveller community, especially in the fields of education and employment. We need to see more Travellers in greater roles, including Traveller gardaí, politicians, accountants, nurses and doctors. The Traveller community is full of innovative minds and motivated and hardworking people who, given the correct advice, direction and chance in education and the ability to start believing in themselves, will do great things for our country. Unfortunately, the current educational landscape in Ireland has many hurdles in place that make it exceptionally difficult for minority and disadvantaged groups to climb.

I had the great honour of working with a great education team in the Galway Traveller movement last year. I worked as a peer-led education worker in a post-primary school in Galway city. The education team and I set up a diversity hub in a post-primary school to enhance the school lives of Traveller students. Simple actions like being available to students to help with them with their homework and assignments and providing much-needed computers and Wi-Fi for students who are resident on halting sites meant they were able to complete schoolwork without embarrassment or worry. Due to lack of funding or investment for the service, we were not able to expand this offering which was and is so greatly needed. We went to the Department of Education and were told that funding was not there for us. Sadly, that project will probably come to an end this year. Being in a secondary school in Galway city, seeing young students who live on my street being able to ask me, "Are you a Traveller?, having a Traveller in a staff room and being there for the students was important. When students were being spoken down to or treated wrongly in the school, we were the first to the scene to stand up for them.

For me, education is extremely important as I see it as a foundation that can help people to build and grow. It builds self-confidence, awareness and an ability to participate actively in our society. It gives a person opportunities and choices not ordinarily available to them. Without my education, I would not be able to stand here today and give this speech in confidence and have the awareness and understanding of the education sector in Ireland. Low levels of education lead to poor self-esteem, job opportunities and health, and can also lead to depression. As we well know in the Traveller community, that has led to high rates of suicide.

To briefly conclude, I feel that parents need to encourage their Traveller children to progress through the education system and gain a leaving certificate. More importantly, I urge school principals, teachers, SNAs and the Department of Education to take active measures to truly understand minority and disadvantaged groups and barriers in the education system. They could work with Traveller parents to overcome these barriers which, in turn, will increase participation at second and third level for Traveller students.