Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

For the record, because of the points I made earlier, I make it clear that I bear no animosity towards the staff of the building. I have 1,000% respect for them, as do all my colleagues. It was not about the staff. It was an unfortunate set of circumstances which meant at least 100, if not more, Travellers and their children were excluded from this celebration and I really do regret this. It means this is a slightly bittersweet occasion. Nevertheless, I congratulate the Department of Justice and Equality, the Taoiseach and everybody involved in making this reality.

A huge part of why this is a reality is due to those present from the Traveller community. Many people have mentioned musicians and we have also had fine actors. John Connor's series "I Am Traveller" which was on RTE recently helped in a deep cultural way to break down many images and barriers. I will spend the few minutes I have speaking about my perception of culture. Culture is a very deeply embedded part of what we are and who we are, and what the Traveller culture brings to us is something very rich and wide. Without being facile, as the Ceann Comhairle said earlier, some of the best people I have ever met in my life come from the Traveller community because they give a sense of richness, culture and depth in their personalities and experience.

On the other hand, we must acknowledge that in our settled culture there is a deep, often racist and reactionary response to the Traveller community. This morning, I tweeted a big welcome for these events this evening, and within minutes my Facebook and Twitter had received responses with reactionary, racist and vile comments which I will not repeat. These were not from friends of mine, but from people out there who watch these events. I want to make a strong argument and I am not pointing the finger at any one individual but speaking about culture, that the fish rots from the head, and the culture in political society in Ireland has been NIMBYism towards Travellers, not in my back yard, and blaming them when an election comes around to try to get a few votes in a housing estate.

Whether in national or local politics, there is a deep rotten culture in the attitude towards the Traveller community in Irish society. We will not break this down tonight, we will not break it down next week and we will not break it down next year, but we must work damn hard at making sure we break it down. This means everybody in the House, particularly Ministers, must give a lead. I refer to the 80% cut to the Traveller education budget when the Minister for Finance stated the low hanging fruit will be picked first when austerity hit us. This must be reversed immediately. The cuts to assistance for special needs in schools must be reversed immediately. The Minister, Deputy Simon Coveney, must keep a strong eye on local authorities and how they underspend the allocation of money given for Traveller accommodation. I was shocked when I was a councillor and chairperson of the Traveller accommodation committee to discover that between 2009 and 2011 €14 million of the budget was underspent by local authorities for Traveller accommodation. This is a deeply rotten racist reactionary political attitude towards the community sitting with us this evening. This is what we must begin to break down. The fish rots from the head but the cure will also come from politicians giving a lead locally and nationally.

Despite the fact I have said some harsh words about the political culture in this country, it is changing and will change even further because of the massive contribution made by individual Travellers, communities such as those in Labre Park, community leaders and Traveller activists who are not necessarily all Travellers. There is a plethora of people whom I hugely admire who have given up their lives and careers to be activists in the Traveller community and to be advocates for it and this evening we should say hats off to them. The community, its supporters and advocates and the organisations who represent it have brought us to where we are now. Now, the ball is our court and it is up to us to ensure a fundamental change which must be brought about in NIMBYism and racism. The discrimination which I described earlier must end and the ending begins this evening.

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