Appreciation of culture is vital to repairing distrust

While last year's Citizen Traveller campaign - the first - aimed to create a better understanding of Travellers among the settled community, this year's focus is both on Traveller culture and an examination of what it means to Travellers to be Travellers.

Still acknowledged as one of the most marginalised, disadvantaged and misunderstood communities in the State, an appreciation of the value of Traveller culture is considered vital to repairing the distrust between the settled community and our only indigenous ethnic minority.

The most pressing issue, however, remains that of accommodation. About 6,500 people live on unofficial halting sites - i.e. the side of the road in what have been described as Third World conditions. Despite the fact that every local authority has been mandated to provide sufficient Traveller accommodation by 2006, this figure is going up rather than falling.

According to Mr Fintan Farrell, chairman of the Irish Traveller Movement, other positive steps cannot be fully achieved until the accommodation issue is rectified.

While various Traveller organisations continue to press for the provision of accommodation, this year's Citizen Traveller week is being used to celebrate Traveller culture and explore how the Traveller community sees itself. Later this week the ITM will publish the results of a survey of more than 500 Travellers on their own community.

Among the issues that will emerge in this week's series of articles in The Irish Times is the fact that many Travellers, particularly the young, have a negative image of their own culture.

Some feel they would do better in Ireland if they denied their identity, while others are wary of the settled community, saying they want as little contact with it as possible.

The Citizen Traveller campaign was conceived three years ago, having grown out of the 1995 Report of the Task Force on the Travelling community. It was allocated £900,000 by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform to run over three years.

Four Traveller organisations are involved in the campaign. They are the National Traveller Women's Forum, the Irish Traveller Movement, Pavee Point and the Parish of the Travelling people. For the rest of the week in The Irish Times, Travellers will describe their lives and how they see themselves as citizens of Ireland. Irish Times correspondents will also address some of the issues raised.