At the outset I wish to make clear that in no way does this article refer to all Travellers but to the significant minority who seem to cause problems suffered by all Travellers. I agree that a majority of Travellers are law-abiding and decent people and the following commentary attempts to address the problems that the settled community have with this minority.
The problems and difficulties that arise between the settled and Travelling communities do not stem from racism, as the Travellers would like us all to believe, because we are all of the same Irish race. I believe that these problems stem from a clash of cultures and standards.
It is hard to define what exactly modern Traveller culture is, as their old customs have by and large, disappeared over the ages - e.g. tinsmiths, farm labourers etc - to be replaced by trading in furniture, carpets, scrap, farm goods and gates, hardware, clothing and the like.
This involves moving around the country in convoys with large vans and jeeps to trade. It is very important not to stay anywhere for long enough to be traceable or identifiable by authorities such as the customs, Revenue Commissioners or the law enforcement agencies. Other aspects of modern Traveller culture involve individual Travellers owning large hordes of horses without the means to provide for them, thus causing hardship and damage to communities around them. This is a particular problem for rural communities.
Violence also seems to play an important role in the culture of Travellers. Travellers very seldom use the agencies of the State to settle their disputes, but instead revert to the types of faction fights that everyone else left behind centuries ago.
These are not the few, unimportant, isolated incidents that some would have us believe, but are extremely violent and involve large numbers of people armed to the teeth in well-organised showdowns. These incidents have resulted in death and injury and cannot be excused by saying that there are good and bad in all communities.
There can be little wonder that whole towns have closed down during events such as funerals and weddings for fear of incidents of this kind. When these towns don't cater for these events they are accused of racism etc. I believe that publicans, hoteliers, and shopkeepers would do business with anyone but not at a price where their business could possibly suffer as a result of one of these incidents.
A new culture of blame seems to have replaced some of the old customs. It would seem that the settled community is to blame for all Traveller ills, such as high infant mortality, short life expectancy, poor education and ill health.
The high infant mortality rate could be partly explained by the type of accommodation in which Traveller children are brought up. Caravans are particularly unsuitable for permanent habitation. The type of transport used by most Travellers is also unsuitable for the ferrying of children - i.e. commercial vans used for goods and without the necessary seating accommodation and safety equipment for children. Sadly, a lot have perished in accidents in these vans.
Short life expectancy could also be attributed to the chosen accommodation and the Travelling lifestyle where constant medical care is very difficult and early diagnosis of illness is often missed. Our climate could hardly be less suitable to this lifestyle.
The foundation stone to addressing these issues successfully would appear to me to lie in education. If young Traveller children are not allowed the basic right of a full and uninterrupted education they may never realise their dreams and potential and will always find it difficult to live in a modern society.
If a solution is ever going to be reached - after decades of trying - it will have to include the settled community and their fears and experiences will have to be addressed.
Most people in the settled community would not object to small, permanent housing schemes and even permanent halting sites so long as rules and standards which apply to them will also apply to the tenants of such sites. The difficulty arises when the issue of transient sites is brought up. Because there is a high turnover of anonymous people with no responsibility to the area and because of the lack of laws regarding access to and from these sites and parking around them, they will never be willingly accepted by settled communities no matter how much legislation is thrown at us.
We now have an opportunity to come to an agreed solution and unless the settled community is involved at all stages this will be another wasted and failed opportunity.
Charlie Kavanagh is a farmer in Co Wexford. He is also involved in Meas, a group based mainly in the south-east which aims to express the views of settled people in relation to Travellers and to promote an accommodation between the two communities. Meas is Irish for respect.