Sir, - We are members of Wicklow Travellers' Senior Training Programme. We read the articles you published during the week of February 28th about Travellers. It is the first time ever we saw something positive published about Travellers.
First of all we would like to say thanks because no other newspaper would give Travellers space. We would like to see more Travellers being given the credit for something good that they have done.
We think the large majority of people who think Travellers are alcoholics, troublemakers, and dirt-gatherers don't know us at all. They are just assuming things about us. They don't know the kind of people we really are, most of us are good living people. We put our families and children before ourselves. We'd like people to know us before they judge us.
We are individuals, we are people like everybody else. We are not perfect, nobody is, but we have feelings, emotions, fears for our children and our future.
We would like people to accept us as Travellers as we are. We are not going to change. Don't try to make us. We just want you to accept us as Irish people who deserve their rights.
We hope that you will publish this letter. If any person wants to come and visit us and have a chat with us, they are welcome. - Yours, etc., Nan Wall, Mary O'Brien (Snr), Helen O'Brien, Margaret Connors, Cindy Moorehouse and Mary Moorehouse,
The Roadside, Co Wicklow.