Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Kelleher for allowing me to be a part of this important legislation and I commend the Traveller community and the Irish Traveller movement for their work and activism in this area. I am honoured to support this legislation and I am encouraged by the broad support for it in the House.

After hours of thinking about what I wanted to say and how to phrase how important I think the Bill is, I came to the realisation that I was finding it difficult because, while I can speak about my own experience of stigma, social class, barriers in education, experience of deprivation and so on, it must be said that no matter how difficult what I have experienced has been, my Traveller friends have experienced so much more. The expectation and aspiration that I could have gone on to do my leaving certificate was very much there for me but it was not for my Traveller friends. I remember starting first year and noticing the Travellers in my classroom in primary school had not arrived for their first day of secondary school. I remember the first time my friend invited me into his home. I had known him for ten years but I heard him as a young Traveller man for the very first time that day. We were only kids and I asked him why he did not talk like the rest of his family when we were out on the street. His reply was, “I will get only slagged, Lynn." Imagine spending your day with your settled peers, having to master their use of language and their accent, and suppressing your own identity to avoid comment or jeering from friends.

History and culture was very important in the 19th century to progressing the cause of identity and self-determination. When a people’s culture and history is validated and supported at State level, it will create a more inclusive Ireland. More importantly, it will give the Traveller community a sense of belonging to the State, and the State will be displaying ownership of all its people and cultures. Traveller history and culture is Irish history and culture; it is part of the multicultural history of Ireland. It will not only benefit the Traveller community but the majority of the settled community just as much. It will allow for a far more open discourse in the coming decade on what it is to be Irish in a continuously changing society. Imagine if my friend could have expressed his identity, history and culture, and that we, as a State, supported and validated who he was throughout his life. Imagine that we, as a State, had not imposed the stigma and marginalisation that we did in past oppressive policies.

Over the last week or so, after conversations with friends and organisations in the Traveller community, a similar theme came through in what they all said. Travellers in school are made to feel ashamed of their identity. This happened without any of us actually taking the time to know what their history and culture is, or what it means to be a Traveller. We have stigmatised and shamed the Traveller community out of ignorance and in an effort to force them to be us - to be settled - as if we were somehow superior. Just as Thomas McCann said last week at the launch of the cross-party Oireachtas group on Travellers, the 1963 Government report from the Commission on Itinerancy described Travellers as “problems” for which there would be “no final solution.” Ultimately, this State considered Travellers as failed settled people. We must undo this. We can begin by educating all of the generations to come on Traveller history and culture. Education, awareness and acceptance are at the foundation of ending discrimination. I believe the onus is on the State to be front and centre of ending that discrimination. It was largely a State-imposed discrimination dating back over several decades.

There is an absolute need to develop tools to include the history of Traveller culture in all parts of the primary and secondary syllabus. We would look to include it in the CSPE programme but we can also look at social geography. Nomadism should be included as a definition with reference to other indigenous peoples. In the social and scientific area, the definition of family should be expanded to include the model of extended family. Traveller music from musicians such as Johnny Doherty and Paddy Keenan should be included in the curriculum. Regarding art, curriculum projects should include Traveller artistic contributions as one of the options alongside still life, for example. In short, Traveller culture should be throughout the curriculum at all stages of education, not solely as a once-off module in a once a year class.

This is one phase of addressing the inequality and discrimination for Travellers but we must be aware of the fact that we have much to do in regard to resources and accommodation. Recognition of ethnicity does not magically bring Travellers up to a place of equity with the rest of society. It does not erase the harm we have done to their community and their lives. Some of the ways in which education can be a tool to achieve this are as follows: culturally appropriate primary school programmes; Traveller resource teachers to be reinstated; Traveller special needs assistants and teachers to be employed; Traveller home liaison supports; specific training projects for young Traveller men; and Traveller organisations to be resourced to develop a national network committed to supporting Traveller men.

To conclude, we must ensure an inclusive and culturally respectful education system is available to all and it is imperative that the education sector meets that need. This includes mandatory diversity awareness training for all educators and investment in culturally appropriate learning environments. In addition, culturally appropriate learning materials must be developed for all sectors of the education system. I truly regret that I spent my school years oblivious to the harm being inflicted on the Traveller community and on my Traveller friends. I hope this Bill can start to change that for Traveller children in generations to come.