Level 1 Actions Part B: Level 3 Actions - Donegal County Council

DRAFT
FACT SHEET NUMBER 9 – Part 2
County Donegal by Ethnicity, the Irish Traveller Community and Religion
Irish society over the last number of years has undergone a huge transition from a position where its citizens
shared a smaller number of religions and similar cultural backgrounds to a country that has been enriched
through inward migration with a variety of different religions and different ethnic and cultural backgrounds.
This factsheet has been designed to explore the changes in ethnic and cultural backgrounds in Ireland.
Ethnicity is an important means through which people can identify themselves. An ethnic group is a group of
human beings whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage that is real or presumed.
Ethnic identity is further marked by the recognition from others of a group's distinctiveness and the recognition
of common cultural, linguistic, religious, behavioral or biological traits real or presumed, as indicators of
contrast to other groups. Ireland is a country where religion and religious practice have always been held in
high esteem. Although the majority of Irish people are Roman Catholics, many other religions are respected
and represented in Ireland.
Travellers are one of the minority ethnic groups in Ireland, documented as being part of Irish society for
centuries. Travellers have a long shared history and value system, their own language, customs and traditions.
The distinctive Traveller lifestyle and culture, based on a nomadic tradition, sets Travellers apart from the
sedentary population or 'settled people'. See Table 1
Although these three broad and distinctive themes are explored in this factsheet, the analysis is limited by the
availability of the data that is collected.
Travellers
In November each year the Traveller Accommodation Unit of Donegal County Council in association with the
Donegal Travellers Project conducts an annual Traveller count which contains a profile of Traveller families
within the county. For the purposes of this Factsheet, it was felt that this would give a more accurate picture
of the number of Traveller families than the Census 2006 carried out by the CSO.
229 Traveller Families in County Donegal
A recent report by the Donegal Travellers Project – Irish Travellers and the ‘Troubles’, would suggest that there
has been a significant recent migration of Travellers into County Donegal. An analysis of the “annual count” of
Travellers in County Donegal illustrates that there has been a significant increase in the Traveller population in
County Donegal over the period 1998 to 2008, growing from 93 families to 229 families or by 146%. The most
notable increases in the number of Traveller families in percentage terms was over the period 1998 – 1999
(27%) and over the period 2000 – 2001 (18%).
Letterkenny is home to 132 Traveller Families
The largest urban centre in the county, Letterkenny, is home to 57% (132 families) of all Traveller Families in
County Donegal (See Map 1). 6.6% (15 families) live in Milford and 4.4% (10 families) live in Raphoe. Map 1
presents the distribution of Traveller Families throughout County Donegal. Although the annual count is a
better indicator of the number of Traveller families around County Donegal, it is likely that it underestimates
the actual transient Traveller population.
Type of Family Accommodation
The data supplied by the Traveller Accommodation Unit suggests that there has been substantial increase in
the number of families residing in conventional housing since 1999. In 2007, there was 114 families residing in
Local Authority Standard Housing, 57 families in Private Rented Accommodation and 12 in Local Authority