Wednesday, Oct 28 — Pavee Point’s Mental Health Programme attended the ‘Traveller Mental Health Education & Awareness Event’ hosted by Offaly Traveller Movement (OTM) and College of Psychiatrists of Ireland (CPsychI)in Tullamore.
Introduced via weblink by Minister of State for Mental Health, Mary Butler TD, the event offered local Traveller organisations and CPsychI the opportunity to present on issues regarding psychiatry and mental health, CAMHS, suicide, addictions and recovery.
Last week in Tralee a parallel event was hosted Kerry Traveller Health and Community Development Project and CPsychI, where Dr Lorcan Martin (President of CPsychI) spoke of deep distrust of healthcare services on the part of Travellers and reluctance to seek life-saving help.
Brigid Quilligan, Project Manager with Kerry Traveller’s Health and Community Development Project, explained this distrust is a result of inequity built over generations in terms of accommodation, education and employment, whereby systematic discrimination and intergenerational trauma continue to erode the mental health of Travellers.
Traveller men and women have average lifespans 15 and 12 years shorter than the national average. In Budget 2027 the Government allocated €1m in targeted suicide prevention initiatives for Travellers.
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