All Ireland Traveller Health Study Our Geels - Department of Health ...

Health Survey Findings
The general recommendations of the report include a focus on the need to meaningfully engage with
parents of Traveller children, in particular through community development and relationship building
with educational providers. Inclusionary education strategies within preschool, primary and postprimary
educational settings were viewed as essential in allowing Traveller children to fully enjoy their
right to education. Further, recommendations included an emphasis on equality, inter-agency support
and adequate funding of specialised assistance programmes. Within third-level education, the Strategy
emphasised the need for alternative entry routes, support and mentoring of those Travellers entering
third-level education.
In Northern Ireland, data from Connolly and Keenan (2002) suggest that
• 18% of Traveller children access preschool or nursery compared to 58% of the general population.
• 59% of Travellers aged between 16 and 24 years leave school with no qualifications, compared to
17% of this age group in the general NI population.
• 92% of Travellers have no GCSEs or higher qualifications.
Income Adequacy
The Department of Environment Northern Ireland Census 2001, counted 1,710 Travellers in
Northern Ireland. Features of multiple disadvantages experienced by Travellers included long-term
unemployment - only 11% are in paid employment whilst 70% who are economically active have
had no paid work in the last 10 years. In Northern Ireland 89% were unemployed compared to 4% for
the general population (Department of the Environment, 2001). In the 2006 census in the Republic of
Ireland (Central Statistics Office, 2007c) the unemployment rate for Travellers was 75% compared to 9%
for the general population.
Research into the economic activities of Traveller culture identifies an emphasis on income generation
rather than wage employment. However with increasing regulation and enforcement in work
areas associated with Travellers (e.g. recycling, waste disposal, horse trading) opportunities for selfemployment
have become more difficult to find. Barriers to Travellers accessing the labour market
include educational standard, lack of role models and discrimination. The majority of Travellers are
unemployed and are dependent on social welfare payments. This often results in families living in
poverty trying to cope with the increasing costs of basic services, as well as the struggle to feed and
clothe large families (Report of the Task Force on the Travelling Community, 1995).
The Report of the Task Force on the Travelling Community stated that it was important that the full
range of employment and training options are open to Travellers and that institutional or discriminatory
obstacles are removed. The links between Traveller cultural identity and traditional employment types
were recognised. In order to fully exploit these links, a need has been identified to take account of
traditional structural characteristics of Traveller economic activity in implementing culturally reinforcing
employment policies. This involves a community development model that establishes a ‘logic of
empowerment’ which aims ‘to help remove shame of self or the will to hide one’s differences when
they are compared to the ‘norm’ or majority’.
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