October News - John O'Connell - A Tribute
John O'Connell - A Tribute
John O' Connell was one of the founder members of Pavee Point Travellers' Centre and was the Director until his untimely death in November 1999. This tribute to him was read by Ronnie Fay at a memorial service held in Pavee Point last May, when President Mary McAleese unveiled a plaque in memory of John.
For 15 years it was my pleasure to have been a friend and work colleague of John O'Connell. John was an inspiration to work with. He was an important mentor in my personal development and, I can safely say, in that of every other person involved in Dublin Travellers Education and Development Group - and subsequently Pavee Point.
In June 1984, I joined a small group of people exploring what they could do to support the struggle for Travellers' human rights. This group had approached FAS to fund a leadership course for Travellers. After two years of negotiating, the funding finally came through. John and I were the co-ordinators of that course - the first Pavee Point ever organised for Travellers. It commenced in January 1985 in Meath Street in Dublin.
The original plan was that we would identify Traveller leaders in year one, train them in year two and hand over the project in year three. However, we realised from a very early stage that the issues were much more complex than we had anticipated. We also realised the complexities of the racism against Travellers required settled people to become involved in challenging that racism. We began to identify ourselves as a partnership organisation.
Our first course was a learning experience for every one involved - Travellers, co-ordinators, management, tutors and the media.
One session in particular stands out in my memory.
We had decided to do a session on discrimination and we had planned it all out. It would be based on the personal experiences of the group.
John started the session by asking the group had anyone ever been discriminated against and to give an example to the group - We were met by silence and blank faces. We thought our session plan was going to have to be dumped.
Next, John asked: "Well has anyone ever been put off a bus or followed around a shop?" The discussion and analysis took off. Nearly everyone in the group had several examples.
People didn't understand the word discrimination but, they had certainly experienced it. And now they had the language to name that experience. John believed that language was power and people should have the language to articulate their situation. Today, I'd say, every Traveller in the country (unfortunately) knows what the word "discrimination" means.
In the late 1980's there was a very concerted campaign, by some people who had a long involvement in the then National Council for Travelling People, to undermine our organisation and our work. John met this challenge by rallying us around and saying let's be positive and do our own thing. Let's not get stuck in a negative feud. This proved the correct strategy and our organisation grew from strength to strength.
This was also a time when we were forced to move premises four times. John had the foresight and confidence to suggest that we really should buy our own premises. It was the only way of ensuring that we would not be evicted again. A major fund-raising drive was then undertaken and we finally purchased our own premises in 1988. We were one of the first community based organisations to do so.
John gave people the space to grow and develop and to test out new ideas. He was particularly committed to, and supportive around, the development of work with Traveller women. This work has resulted in the laundry in Cara Park in Coolock, the employment of Traveller women as community health workers and more recently work in response to male domestic violence within the Traveller community.
John was an excellent communicator and listener. He often unravelled complex policies and issues and made them accessible to a broad community of people. He had a keen intellect but, he never made anyone feel stupid.
Good at interacting with people, John was as comfortable at an EU summit or Ireland Fund dinner as he was chatting in a trailer at the side of the road.
He was constantly challenging himself and others to develop new ideas and new skills. If you asked his opinion on something you could always be sure of an honest reply - even if it was sometimes hard to bear!
John recognised the importance of experiential learning and brought many of the techniques he had learned in the Philippines to his work with Travellers. He saw the value of games and exercises and always joined in willingly.
He used to say games were a great leveller.
He used his community work skills in very creative ways. He believed in starting where people were at. For example he played a role in initiating Travellers pilgrimages. Many Travellers were reluctant to participate in marches and protests and yet would go to pilgrimages and holy shrines without any bother. We will all remember the fun and sense of camaraderie we had on those pilgrimages. John believed the work should be fun and that this helped keep the energy and enthusiasm up. We'll all remember him singing McAlpines Fusiliers around the campfire.
John was very conscious of class issues and he showed this to the end - even when he had been diagnosed with a brain tumour and knew he was dying. He came into Pavee Point to have a session with the Traveller women and, really, to say goodbye.
In this session, which I co-facilitated with him, he acknowledged his privileged position and said he was nearly 50 years of age, an age which only 5% of Travellers could hope to see.
He also spoke about the inequitable health service and the fact that, because he had private health insurance and contacts, he could access the best of treatment and care which the majority of Travellers could never access. I don't believe I, or anyone else, could have been so brave, open, honest and analytical in such circumstances.
John was very good at drawing analogies between different types of struggles. He created the space within our organisation where staff could be involved in other campaigns and issues. He realised skills developed in those arenas would benefit the organisation and that allies made in differing struggles could support the Traveller struggle.
John played a key role in founding the Irish Traveller Movement (ITM). It was an example where he turned an apparently negative situation into something positive. He helped make sure there was already enough work done on the ground to facilitate the development of the ITM when the old NCTP voted to disband itself.
His particular interest in developing solidarity between Travellers and Roma involved him attending and participating in many seminars and conferences around the world. He was beginning to develop solidarity work with some of the Roma asylum seekers here in Ireland, when he was diagnosed with cancer. We hope to progress that work.
John felt it was important to document the learning and analysis our work developed. He encouraged the production of books, videos and posters. He felt strongly they should be of a high quality - not only in content but also in production.
John was always generous with his time (often at a cost to himself and his family life). And if he had one weakness, it was his inability to say no. Often, he would be under pressure to write something or on his way to catch a plane even - and there he would be patiently explaining the situation of Travellers to a student who may have called into the centre unannounced.
John worked at his best as part of a team. He enjoyed brainstorming and, as a group, coming up with strategies. He would be the first to acknowledge that much of the work of Pavee Point was as a result of team effort - everyone pulling together.
Even though John is missed dearly - the most important part of his legacy to Pavee Point is an organisation which is strong and robust, which can continue to grow and develop and which can respond creatively to the challenges facing Travellers.