Vincent P Martin (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Burke, to the Chamber. The Green Party is thrilled to have Senator Eileen Flynn as a Member of the Seanad. Today, she asked for dignity and respect for the travelling community. That is a cry for dignity and respect and it is not too much to ask.

As a child, I was privileged in that my late parents invited members of the travelling community attending our local school to our first communion celebrations and birthday parties. Nothing struck me as unusual at the time. My only observation was that the child - my best friend for the afternoon - would be a different face the following year. There are photos at home with these young birthday party-goers but the harsh reality of statistics would prove, if I tried to chase down the people in those photographs, that many of them are no longer with us due to the dreadful mortality and life expectancy rates among the travelling community. If I were to do a "Where are they now?" search, provided I could find the photographs in the attic, I would discover that many of them are no longer with us.They did not have the opportunity I got for education. They did not have the opportunity that most people in this House had, including education, social, personal and family matters.

I was privileged to have as a lecturer in third level education the Rev. Dr. Micheál Mac Gréil, the famous Jesuit sociologist, who is still with us and alive and well, in his 90th year, in Westport. I know today's debate is about accommodation but this point should permeate through all discussions on the Traveller community, in my humble opinion. The policy of mere assimilation will not work, as in, saying that someone must be like us. It is like the overenthusiastic member of the Red Cross who helps an elderly, infirm person across the road, and when he or she speaks to the elderly person across the road, the elderly person says that he or she did not want to cross the road. As Senator Garvey said earlier, listening is important. Dr. Micheál Mac Gréil's book, Pluralism and Diversity in Irelandis about early 21st century Ireland. Chapter 13 is entitled, "The Travelling People - Ireland’s Apartheid". It is hard not to agree with Dr. Mac Gréil and the statistics prove the story. In the 2006 census, though it is a while ago, there were 22,300 Travellers, which amounted to 0.5% of our population, yet our fellow Senator is appealing for dignity and respect.

We have failed with the policy of assimilation. We need integrated pluralism. We need integration to have equality of opportunity, equal rights, equal treatment and pluralism. We need to celebrate and embrace people's differences for those who want to stay different. They enrich our community. It is almost like being ecumenical. If there is a religious group that wants to have its sabbath on a Thursday, then facilitate the sabbath on a Thursday. We have to facilitate and allow for difference. True difference is strength, vibrancy and a celebration of diversity. It also showcases talents and, on a more practical level, stability and equal rights. I would welcome further discussion on this issue which, as others have said, is getting worse. It is not getting better. We need a fundamental rethink and overhaul.