OPINION/Breda O'BrienReading about Bishop Willie Walsh and his encamped Travellers reminded me of an incident from years ago. My brother was giving me a lift home from Dungarvan, and ahead of us on a long, straight stretch of road, I could see a figure, familiar since childhood, marching purposefully.
He and his two brothers were Travellers, three gaunt, straight-backed men who walked for miles, one behind the other. I remember as a child marvelling that they never seemed to exchange a word as they marched along in single file.
Now I was an adult and only one of the three remained alive to continue the long march. My brother stopped to pick him up. He always called my brother "young Boss" to distinguish him from the Boss, my father. Out of the blue the Traveller asked, "Would you have a lend of a tenner, young Boss?"
A tenner then was worth a great deal more than it would be now. My brother handed one to him, and the Traveller said, "I'll have it back to you in a few days, young Boss."
When the Traveller got out of the car, I remember saying to my brother that that would be the last he would see of his tenner and slagging him for being a soft eejit. He said nothing for a while, then said reflectively: "I remember hearing a rumour that you were a Christian." I subsided. Then he added: "I bet you a tenner that I get that tenner back."
Some days later, the Traveller came to our door, touched his hand to his hat and asked me to give a bucket which he had mended to the "young Boss". There was no mention of the tenner. When I returned the bucket to my brother, he reached into it and with a sardonic look, lifted out the tenner which the Traveller had left folded there for him.
In my case, the rumour of being a Christian was no protection against prejudice. That would seem to be true of Irish society in general.
I was intrigued by Vincent Browne's earlier column this week where he talked about the feedback to his stint as a stand-in for Pat Kenny on his radio show. The only issues which excited no sympathy whatsoever from listeners were Travellers and refugees. Of course, you cannot judge a country by those who telephone radio shows, but there is some deep, ingrained prejudice against Travellers which is difficult to explain.
Even to suggest that it is difficult to explain raises ire. A litany of the transgressions committed by Travellers rapidly follows, in which filth, laziness, dole fraud and paying for large vans in cash feature frequently. Those who treat Travellers humanely or who act as advocates for them are likely to receive the "soft eejit" label, which I bestowed on my brother.
One such, Bishop Willie Walsh, asked reasonably the other day what he was supposed to do when a woman with a two-year-old child and who is pregnant with another knocks on his door and asks for help. The institutional answer seems to be, "Use legislation of dubious constitutionality against her to move her on."
SOME Travellers act despicably. The destruction of the Dodder as a public amenity was disgraceful and inexcusable. Yet there are dozens of builders who destroy amenities in Wicklow by dumping rubble and rubbish in unapproved sites, and unless you happen to live next door to such a site, the same anger is not targeted at them as is targeted at Travellers.
As for filth, anyone who has stumbled across a dirty nappy on a beach dumped by someone too lazy to dispose of it properly must realise that filthy habits are not unique to Travellers.
The worst acts committed by Travellers are seen as representative of all Travellers. My sister used to work with Travellers and to go out on a bus which collected Traveller children to bring them to school. She often commented that some children would emerge immaculately clean and well cared for from a caravan surrounded by mud and with no facilities on the site. Other children's appearance would shout of neglect.
Like settled people, it is impossible to generalise about Travellers. Unless, of course, you count the sadly accurate generalisation that if you are born a Traveller, you will die younger, experience more serious illness, educational disadvantage and boorish prejudice than your settled neighbours are ever likely to experience.
Not that it helps to idealise Travellers and their lifestyle. This is a danger even with some well-intentioned advocates, who sometimes veer close to implying that a nomadic lifestyle confers some kind of moral superiority which the settled bourgeoisie are too hidebound to acknowledge. There are significant problems with alcohol abuse and violence within the Traveller community, and it does no one any good to whitewash those realities.
Nor can you blame a publican for barring Travellers after a funeral if his last experience was that a bloody melee ensued afterwards. You can, however, blame a publican for barring three friends who happen to be Travellers who just want to have a quiet drink or a hotel for refusing a Traveller wedding because they are afraid that Travellers will lower the tone of the place.
Normally, I am all in favour of balancing rights with responsibilities. However, the settled community has been so slow in acknowledging its responsibilities towards Travellers that it sticks in my craw somewhat when people pontificate about the responsibilities of Travellers towards the settled community. Draconian legislation applied in a swingeing fashion scarcely encourages Travellers to act responsibly. They have nowhere to go, and that encourages desperation.
The Traveller I mentioned earlier had a role in the community due to the trade of tinkering, which earned him a certain wary recognition. Within five years, that trade became as outdated as archery. Within another 10, the traditional halting places used by Travellers were being swallowed by urban sprawl.
Many would like to see the Traveller lifestyle disappear completely, but Travellers are not going to go away. The only way forward is dialogue which includes Travellers and settled people thrashing out difficulties together. And, of course, the odd gesture by soft eejits like Willie Walsh, to remind us that the rumour of Christianity need not always imply prejudice.