The Traveller Community are traditionally a nomadic ethnic minority specific to Ireland. Travellers traditionally moved from place to place and followed their family routes around a region in Ireland looking for work and visiting fairs. 

Irish Travellers have been documented as being part of Irish society for centuries. Travellers have a long-shared history, traditions, language, culture and customs. In early years, Travellers were not recognised as a minority within Ireland and commonly the Irish state rejected such notions to grant Travellers ethnic status. 

However, in the late 1980s and 1990s, the state acknowledged the structural disadvantage and societal stigma that Travellers are exposed to and named Travellers as a protected group in equality legislation, as well as laws addressing incitement to hatred. 

These involvements from the state granted Travellers rights based on identity, as they continued to deny their ethnicity. After constant campaigning, Traveller ethnicity was recognized by the prime minister of Ireland in 2017.

Over the past few decades Irish Travellers have been forced off the roads due to a number of reasons including government policies, laws causing shortages of stopping places or halting sites and fairs ceasing to trade. Traveller families are now less able to travel and many have been moved into halting sites and houses around the country.

The Irish Traveller community account for approximately 0.5% of the Irish population. The culture of the Traveller community is separate and distinct from that of the majority population. Traveller culture has its own traditions, values, language, arts, crafts, and music. 

Travellers also have distinctive ways of living, such as living with the extended family, nomadism and the keeping of animals, particularly horses. 

Has ethnicity recognition helped the Travelling Community?

Ethnic recognition realistically should help Travellers to protect their culture, language, traditions, and provide extra supports in the areas including education, accommodation, and health. Unfortunately, this is not the case and a lot of the Traveller Community continue to face discrimination in areas including accessing employment, healthcare, housing, and education. 

Some Statics from the Traveller community – All Ireland Health Study 2010

• Traveller men die on average 15 years earlier than settled men, Traveller women die on average 11 years earlier that settled women, the same life expectancy as Irish People in the 1940’s.
• Travellers have the highest infant mortality rate, the highest rate of unemployment at 84%, as a community the worst living conditions, suicide rates are on average 7 times higher than the wider community, lowest educational attainment.

For further information on Iisih Travellers click here (Irish Travellers – Demographics – CSO – Central Statistics Office)