Travellers inexorably find themselves being linked to criminality, writes Aogán Mulcahy.
The controversy surrounding the killing of John Ward by Pádraig Nally, and Nally's subsequent conviction and sentence of six years' imprisonment, has thrown into sharp relief the prominent manner in which Travellers now feature in debates about policing, crime and justice. On the one hand, it reflects concerns of vulnerability to criminal activity. On the other, it reflects concerns that Travellers have yet to receive the full protection of the law.
Of course some Travellers engage in crime, and some of this is violent, vicious and predatory. Exactly the same could be said of any other social group. However, few other social groups find such a clear connection drawn between their identity and criminality. Does anyone remember an occasion in which even the most prominent gangland criminal was described in the media as "a settled person"?
The debate on Travellers and criminality has been dominated by allegations of Travellers committing crime against settled people. Although it is a criminological truism that most criminals target those around them - and that as a consequence, perpetrators and victims often share the same ethnic background - debate about Travellers and crime largely comes down to the assumption that Travellers prey on settled people, a tendency that is particularly evident in commentary on the Ward/Nally case.
Even when discussion turns to "feud fights" or violence between Travellers, the focus is generally on whether this will spill over into "respectable" settled society. The victimisation of Travellers by other Travellers elicits little sympathy, and mobilises few policy responses. The "fear" that many commentators suggest exists in relation to Travellers and crime appears not to include the fears that Travellers themselves may have, whether in relation to being victimised by other Travellers or by settled people. Moreover, while considerable outrage has been expressed about the severity of Nally's six-year sentence, Travellers and others view it as strikingly lenient and as highlighting the low value that the criminal justice system attaches to lives of Travellers.
What do we actually know about the issue of Travellers and crime? In truth, very little. Despite the massive volume of media commentary, objective analysis is hampered by the information deficit that exists in relation to many aspects of the criminal justice system. Nevertheless, any discussion on Travellers and crime has to confront the issue of policing.
Most policing is a far cry from Sherlock Holmes-style sleuthing. The gardaí are more accurately characterised as "information-workers" rather than "crime-fighters". Of course, some crimes are solved by high-tech approaches - whether through electronic surveillance, forensic science, or other measures - but most are solved by information provided to the gardaí by members of the public.
This unglamorous fact underpins the vast majority of policing activity. Public trust and confidence in the gardaí mean that when a crime happens, witnesses come forward, information is provided, and so on. When this trust is absent, the information flow to the gardaí declines and their capacity to solve crime drops.
In those circumstances, the gardaí often resort to more heavy-handed approaches in search of information, which in turn can erode people's trust in them even further.
Based on research that a colleague and I conducted on relations between Travellers and the gardaí, two issues - over-policing and under-protection - are particularly significant.
"Over-policing" refers to persistent allegations of police harassment and ill-treatment. It also includes Travellers' claims that they are largely policed at the behest of the settled community, particularly in relation to disputes over access to social venues and over the location and very existence of Traveller encampments. The gardaí are in a unique position to facilitate or impede public access to particular locations, and so they assume a fundamental role in the everyday lives and the broader cultural identity of Travellers.
The experience of being "moved on" or evicted is at the core of Traveller identity, as is the gardaí's role in this process. Changing the legal status of trespass from a civil to a criminal offence - through legislation enacted without consultation with Traveller organisations - ensures that the gardaí will continue to play this contentious role.
In addition to this, Travellers also claim that they are "under-protected", and that the gardaí often do not respond to their requests for help, whether in relation to reporting criminal matters or other issues. Even when they do respond, they are accused of failing to intervene appropriately - sometimes they are accused of failing to intervene at all, and of suggesting to Travellers that they "sort it out themselves".
One Traveller woman described a garda's response when they were called to deal with a fight among Travellers: "As long as you keep it inside the gate of that site, we don't give a shite what you do. Kill one another if you want, we'll come in and pick up the bodies."
Troubling as these findings may be, relations between Travellers and the gardaí are not static. In recent years, a number of initiatives have emerged to address in a more coherent and effective way the challenges of policing a diverse society, including training provided by Traveller organisations and the establishment of the highly regarded Garda Racial and Intercultural Unit.
At an informal level, there are also numerous examples of good practice to be found. Nevertheless, a survey conducted as part of the 2004 Garda Human Rights Audit found that relations with Travellers were worse than with any other social group asked about. Only 15 per cent of officers believed that relations between the force and Travellers were "good", while 35 per cent claimed they were "poor".
Moreover, it is no small irony that Garda efforts to address the growing ethnic diversification of Irish society have focused on "new" minority ethnic groups rather than Travellers.
This legacy of mutual mistrust continues to confound efforts to provide an effective policing service to Travellers. Nevertheless, our collective failure to address these issues in the past should neither lead us into the fear-mongering and headline-grabbing measures evident of late, nor blind us to the possibilities currently unfolding. The 2005 Garda Síochána Act provides a legislative basis for consultation between gardaí and public and for co-ordinated crime prevention measures in each local authority area.
As a means of building trust between gardaí and public - and particularly between marginalised communities and the gardaí - these measures have huge potential to foster and develop means to enhance the safety and security of everyone. Hopefully these issues will receive greater governmental commitment than other important issues - providing accommodation for Travellers, for instance - have in the past.
Aogán Mulcahy lectures in sociology at UCD. Policing and Social Marginalisation in Ireland (with Eoin O'Mahony) is available at www.cpa.ie