A group of Travellers and older people in Co Meath have come together to form a choir which has been praised for breaking down barriers and integrating people.
Fifteen Travellers from the Navan Travellers' Training Centre and 10 members of the Summerhill Active Retirement Group have been rehearsing regularly since late last year.
Because some of the Travellers were illiterate, they had to learn the hymns through memory and constant repetition.
Some of the Travellers have settled in Meath while others live in halting sites in Trim and Navan.
The choir has been a great success and has already performed on TG4, according to Ms Mary Nally of the Summerhill Active Retirement Group.
"It really is breaking down barriers and integrating people together. We are very, very happy with it," she said.
Travellers and older people were now greeting each other as they met on streets, whereas they would never have known each other before.
"We should all be more inclusive. Why should Travellers be excluded from something like this?"
The choir had now reached a level where it could perform anywhere, Ms Nally said.
"We really are very proud of it."
Mr Declan Clarke, director of the Navan Traveller Training Centre, said the joint choir had proved to be a positive experience for local Travellers.
He said Travellers had experienced so much discrimination that they were often very tentative about meeting new people.
However, once they got to know and trust a group of people, like the Summerhill Active Retirement Group, they welcomed the interaction.
The choir is now rehearsing for its next public performance - a concert in the Mercy Primary School in Navan on March 4th.
