Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)
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267. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht her plans to support Traveller culture and heritage; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [52129/17]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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My Department's commitment to supporting diversity and inclusion is reflected in its policies and operations, and in those of the bodies under its aegis.  One of the stated aims of Culture 2025, this Departments national cultural policy document, is to create opportunities for increased citizen participation, especially for those currently excluded or at risk of exclusion, with a key value being the right of everyone to participate in the cultural life of the nation. This right runs throughout people’s lives, irrespective of where they come from, where they live, their religious beliefs or their economic or social backgrounds.  In line with these policy objectives, my Department's Creative Ireland programme continues to promote the Traveller Mentoring Program and in 2017, through Cork City Council, funded the renovation of the Traveller Culture Exhibition at Cork Public Museum in 2017, with the refurbishment designed by visual artist and Traveller Leanne McDonagh

In addition, the Arts Council, in particular arrange of supports for work in the context of the Traveller Community under the Arts Participation Scheme and the Artist in Community Scheme, managed by Create on the Arts Council’s behalf which, actively encourages artists to work in a culturally diverse context including among the Traveller Community.  The work of artists from the Traveller Community has also been recognised this year with the election to Aosdána of playwright Rosaleen McDonagh and the award of the Council’s Next Generation Bursary Award for 2017 to Visual Artist, Leanne McDonagh.

The Cultural Institutions are also active in this space and this year, the Chester Beatty Library has partnered with the National Concert Hall as part of Dublin City Council’s Dublin Culture Connects under which, the poet Stephen James Smith is working with the traveller women’s group at Labre Park in Ballyfermot to look at shared stories.  The National Museum is planning a major exhibition with the Traveller Community to be hosted in the Museum of Country Life from June 2018. The exhibition will focus on the traditions, customs and history of the Traveller community over the years.

My Department is also represented on the National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy Steering Group, which monitors the implementation and progress of the recently published the National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy 2017-2021.  I look forward to working with my Department and those bodies under its aegis in developing these important initiatives.