Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

On Tuesday, 20 October I was in Bray for the funerals of Tara Gilbert, who had been pregnant, her partner Willy Lynch, their daughters Jodie and Kelsey and Willy’s brother Jimmy. Two days later I was in Sandyford for the funerals of Sylvia and Tommy Connors and their children Jimmy, Christy and Mary. Sylvia was the sister of Willy and Jimmy Lynch. They were all victims of the fire at the halting site at Glenamuck. In my life I have been to too many funerals but I freely admit that I found these two especially sad and upsetting. I extend to the Lynch, Connors and Gilbert families and to the entire Traveller community my deepest sympathies. Go ndéanfaidh Dia trócaire ar a n-anam. Go raibh síocháin síoraí acu.

Sylvia, Willy and Jimmy’s brother, John, spoke at Thursday’s funeral. His voice frequently faltered as he tried to hold back the raw emotion evident in his face. He described the last day they had all been together:

We had a lovely day. The kids were playing in my garden... But the next morning came the call. I thought it was a hoax call. Then, in a moment, I realised all my family was gone. My brothers, my sister, my sister-in-law, my brother-in-law, my nephews and nieces. The whole lot gone in one go.

Imagine getting that call.

Bhí mé féin, an Teachta Dála McDonald, comhairleoirí áitiúla agus daoine eile ó Shinn Féin ansin chun comhbhrón a dhéanamh leis an phobal Lucht Siúil agus chun seasamh leo go poiblí. The Traveller community, however, needs more than mere sympathy and solidarity. The prejudice and discrimination many Travellers face has worsened over recent years. The response of Governments and the health and educational institutions of the State has been appalling.

The opposition to the erection of a temporary halting site for those bereaved by the Carrickmines fire is deeply disappointing. The decision to provide the families with a site on a parking lot that lacks basic amenities, is an indictment of this and successive Governments. It is deeply shameful. Some people in the settled community blame Travellers for anti-social behaviour and crime. Even if some Travellers, like some in the settled community, behave badly that is no reason to demonise and exclude an entire community. The vast majority of Travellers are decent and good God-fearing people.

Ignorance breeds fear. The only cure for ignorance is knowledge. That comes from education and engagement. Surely all citizens should have the right to receive equal service in shops and pubs, to access education and health services, work and accommodation, on the same basis as all others. Why cannot every Irish citizen enjoy the rights and entitlements that come with that citizenship on the same basis as all others, and have their children treated as we would wish to be treated also? Regrettably this is not the case. Every Traveller child faces a life in which he or she will not be part of wider Irish society but will be part of the most socially disadvantaged group in that society. That child will leave school earlier, have little prospect of work, will suffer ill-health and poverty, and will die younger than one in the settled community. He or she will endure substandard living conditions; will have no access to basic facilities such as sanitation, water and electricity; and will face discrimination in employment and most will never work. Cutbacks in education, health and other services have impacted severely on the Traveller community. The Traveller suicide rate is six times that of the settled community. At the root of all these problems are the unacceptable levels of prejudice, discrimination and social exclusion experienced by Travellers at institutional and other levels.

I am proud to be Irish.

The people of Ireland are no mean people. We hold ourselves in high regard, with some justification. We are creative, innovative and generous. Like all human beings, though, we have our faults. A friend of mine, a very successful businessperson, told me once that the Irish would save someone from drowning, but they would never teach them how to swim. That remark could explain why there is an underlying racism at work in our society which has created its own unique form of apartheid.

In the aftermath of the Carrickmines fire we should up hold a mirror to ourselves as a people. Could it be that our attitude is, in reality, that there is no place in modern Ireland for the Traveller community? This is at odds with the generosity and inclusiveness demonstrated by Irish society in the recent marriage equality campaign, the solidarity shown with refugees from the Middle East, or the amazing amounts of money raised each year by charities for international relief programmes. The widespread expressions of sympathy following the Carrickmines fire have provided some hope this situation could begin to be turned around, but there is an onus on politicians and the Government to ensure something positive, something good comes from this disaster. Caithfimid amharc dáiríre fadtéarmach a thabhairt arís ar an dóigh a chaitheann muid mar phobal leis an Lucht Siúil.

The Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality recommended that the State recognise the ethnicity of the Traveller community. The Government needs to act on this recommendation, implementation of which does not need legislation or a constitutional referendum. Such a development would not of itself solve the problems which confront the Traveller community, but it would demonstrate leadership on the issue by the Government and set a clear and positive example. Much more, however, needs to be done. There is among Travellers an articulate grassroots leadership which is well able to voice Travellers' issues and also to raise the level of that community's awareness of their rights. Some of them are in the Visitors Gallery. Cuirim fáilte mhór rompu uilig.

There is also, after decades of discrimination and demonisation, a sense of demoralisation, low self-worth and inferiority among some Travellers. This has to be combated. Yesterday morning I received a letter from a woman member of the Traveller community that illustrates some of the difficulties they face. She wrote:

I applied for a bay in a permanent halting site in 1994. At the time I was 32 years of age with a young family. I am now 53 years old with most of my family reared and I am now a grandmother of 14 grandchildren and I am still on the list for a bay in a permanent halting site. Our site is situated beside a dump and a recycling waste food plant - in the warmer weather we are constantly infested with flies, the whole site is infested with rats, we feel our case is hopeless and I feel with the way things are going I will be dead by the time that they build a permanent halting site.

There is an urgent need to establish a national forum, across the island of Ireland, involving Travellers and members of the settled community, including representatives of all political parties, the Government, local authorities, the health and education sectors and media organisations to plan a way forward. Such a forum could discuss openly and in detail how discrimination and prejudice against Travellers could be confronted, including prejudicial attitudes facilitated by the actions of some politicians and media outlets. D'fhéadfadh sé moltaí a dhéanamh chun oideachas a chur ar an phobal maidir leis an Lucht Siúil. Two weeks ago when I put suggestion this to the Taoiseach in the Dáil, he rejected it. His view is that existing structures can meet this need, but patently they cannot. Therefore, as we approach the centenary celebration of the 1916 Rising and the Proclamation, what kind of society do we want? What kind of Ireland do we want? Do we want the same as we have now? Is this good enough? Did the Proclamation read, "Irish men and Irish women, unless you are a Traveller"? Do we want an Ireland where we put a grieving family in a car park to live as we celebrate the 1916 Rising, or where a woman rears her children and grandchildren on a rat infested, fly infested dump beside a waste food recycling plant, or do we want an Ireland in which we seek to implement the great ideas of equality and human and civil rights that mark the Proclamation as one of the great freedom charters of modern times?

After the Carrickmines fire, there is an onus on all of us to stop and examine what occurred, why it occurred and how Travellers are treated. The Proclamation declares that we are all equal. This means that if the rights of one person are diminished, the rights of all are diminished. This is not solely a legislative issue or a problem about a lack of resources. It is a moral issue. If the Minister of State wants to understand, even in a very small way, how Travellers feel, he should try and put himself in their shoes. How would he look at the world, at Ireland, then? There have been a number of negative telephone calls to our party criticising our decision to table this Private Members' motion. Of course, we could have opted for a safer issue, but what sort of republicans would we be then? We cannot overcome this challenge except by strong and resolute leadership and clear and unequivocal legislation that underpins equality for every citizen. Of course, legislation cannot solve this problem alone. It will only be finally solved when our society embraces the differences among citizens that make up the diversity and uniqueness of the Irish nation. That means that leaders, including the Government, must lead by example. I urge all Deputies to support Sinn Féin's motion and let us begin the work of making our society better for all but especially for those in the Traveller community.

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