Press Release December 2005
Traveller Focus Week – Recognition – Pavee Point 20th Anniversary Conference
09th Dec 2005, 10.30am
"Travellers continue to be one of the most marginalised, demonised and despised groups in Irish society" said Ms. Ronnie Fay, Director Pavee Point Travellers Centre, at its 20th Anniversary conference in Clontarf Castle this morning. "Recent negative media coverage has sets our work back years. There is a need for a National Statutory Agency or Ombudsman to ensure progress on Traveller issues in the coming years. We need to have sanctions against local authorities or government departments who fail to deliver on stated government policy" she continued.
Pavee Point, the National Travellers' Centre, was set up to promote the human rights of Travellers in 1985. It works at local, regional, national and international levels and has a range of programmes addressing Travellers needs. The conference was officially opened by President Mary McAleese.
"What Travellers and Roma have in common throughout Europe is the experience of discrimination and racism" said Ms. Francoise Kempf, Secretariat on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, Council of Europe, in addressing the conference. "The Council of Europe always took the view that the problems facing Roma and Travellers stemmed mainly and firstly from deeply rooted racism and stereotypes, resulting in discrimination, and therefore, that the root causes for the problems was the same both in the West and the East." Ms Kempf highlighted that the situation of Travellers and Roma throughout Europe is "one of the topics permanently high on the agenda of the Organisation because it is at the cross-road of three main priorities: the fight against racism and discrimination, the protection of national minorities and the fight against social exclusion."
Martin Collins, Assistant Director of Pavee Point, called on the Irish government to implement the recommendation by the United Nations CERD (Convention for the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination) Committee to recognise Travellers as an ethnic group. More action is needed he said, "The reality is Ireland today does not meet the criteria applied to accession countries (such as Bulgaria and Romania) that are necessary to qualify as a member of the European Union given Ireland's treatment of Travellers. The non-recognition of Travellers as an ethnic group; the low health status; poor accommodation and the levels of discrimination would all be looked upon unfavourably by the European Union" he continued.
For further information please contact Ronnie Fay, Martin Collins, or Terry Battles on 01 8780255.
Issued by Pavee Point Travellers' Centre, 46 North Great Charles Street, Dublin 1.