A solicitor, Mr Kevin Brophy, told a conference at the weekend that the Traveller lifestyle was seen as "a selfish desire undertaken by Travellers at the expense of their children".
The conference, "Europe, Discrimination and Travellers", was organised jointly by the Irish Traveller Movement (ITM) and the Bar Council, and saw the launch of a legal pack by the ITM's legal unit. The pack contains legislation and case-law relating to Travellers, along with a list of barristers prepared to accept briefs on their behalf, and is intended to help solicitors around the country represent Travellers.
Mr Brophy said he had been doing so for almost 20 years. "I can say without any hesitation that this part of my practice has provided me with a greater level of satisfaction than any other area of law in which I have worked," he told the conference.
However, he added: "In my dealings with local authorities and, most unsettling of all, in my dealings with certain of the judiciary, I have found that the predominant attitude is one of outright animosity."
Quoting the remarks of one High Court judge in a case involving a Traveller family, Mr Brophy said: "It appears to me from these comments that there is at least one judge on the High Court bench who believes that if Travellers wish to pursue their traditional Traveller way of life, they are acting irresponsibly, and should not in any sense be encouraged to pursue this unattractive lifestyle."
This attitude was also pervasive in the District Court, he said. He referred to a case in the west of Ireland where the local authority was seeking an injunction preventing a particular family from parking their caravan on the side of the road.
"What they got, however, was quite different. They got their injunction, but they also were granted an Order preventing this particular family from parking their caravan on any approach road leading into this particular west of Ireland town for a number of years." This family was a local family that had been seeking accommodation from the council for some time, he said.
Referring to the incident where a number of Traveller families camped on the banks of the Dodder two years ago, he said: "I think everybody would agree that it is entirely unacceptable that Travellers should have camped on this particular section of public land." However, he pointed out that there is an obligation in the Traveller Accommodation Act for every local authority in the country to provide transient halting sites, if needed. "Despite the very large number of Travellers who pass through Dublin each year, and south county Dublin in particular, there is not one transient halting site in the whole of Co Dublin," he said.
The policy of local authorities and the Government was to eliminate Travellers entirely, through forcing them into standard local authority accommodation, said Mr Brophy.
"If there is to be any respect for the Traveller lifestyle and their customs and traditions, then positive and forceful action must be taken at a Government level to introduce legislation which will protect this national minority."