A window into the Travellers' Community
It can be argued that Irish Travellers and Romany Gypsies (Travellers) form part of the fabric of both Irish and British society. It is estimated that 300,000 Travellers are currently living in Britain.
Youmanity reports on this often marginalised minority group whose distinctive way of life, values, culture and traditions, expressed through a ‘nomadic' lifestyle, is not always appreciated by society - Travellers are regarded as the most disadvantaged ethnic group. The European Parliament Committee of Enquiry on Racism and Xenophobia found them to be among the most discriminated-against ethnic groups in Ireland. Travellers are often viewed by settled people in a negative light, anti-social, or believed to be involved in criminal behaviour. Reason for this could be down to their 'insular' nature - Travellers find social integration difficult to achieve because of their nomadic way of life. Furthermore, nomadic sites tend to be located in environmentally deprived areas – wasteland, floodplains or under motorway flyovers (London's Hammersmith flyover is one such example). Such poor living condition can only have a negative effect on Travellers' physical and mental health. It could be therefore argued that this minority group may have become ‘insular’ because of the isolation of their sites, but also as a consequence of the negative stereotyping they suffered over the years.
According to the London-based charity The Traveller Movement, some of the key issues affecting this ethnic minority include:
1. There are not enough sites for Travellers. As a consequence, many are housed in ‘bricks and mortar’ accommodation which precludes their fundamental nomadic lifestyle central to Traveller culture. This often leads to neighbour disputes due to lifestyle differences.
2. Approximately 80% of Travellers are illiterate and consequently have difficulty filing in forms or dealing with correspondence. This can impact significantly on activities that other communities take for granted – for example, completing a theory test for a driving licence.
Less than 4% of Traveller children gain GCSEs and this has a significant impact on their employment prospects. Many Traveller men work in manual trades, whilst women attend to childcare. Bullying at school is also a significant issue affecting Traveller children and many will ‘drop out’ by the age of eleven. According to the Children’s Society, 63% of Traveller children experience bullying. Child poverty is a significant problem within Traveller communities.
A 2011 survey by the Economic and Social Research Institute of Ireland concluded that there is widespread ostracism of Travellers in Ireland, and the report concluded that this could hurt the long-term prospects for Travellers, who need the intercultural solidarity of their neighbours in the settled community.
Travellers are too small a minority, the general prejudice against this group hinders efforts by the central government to integrate Travellers into Irish society.
Little is known of Travellers' culture and traditions - for example, there are no written records that can trace their history. All we know is that is that they have always travelled within and between countries in order to survive. Photographer Mary Humphrey has spent over a decade documenting the lives of Travellers. The images pertaining to this article open a window on this amazing community.
To learn more about Travellers please visit the following sites:
http://www.maryhumphrey.co.uk/
http://travellermovement.org.uk/
