Sir, - Prof William Binchy (April 3rd) makes a pronouncement from his legal ivory tower, demonstrating yet again just how out of touch he is with the Irish people. He sees the 21st-century Traveller as a romantic nomad with a unique culture in which the Irish people should rejoice. He obviously has not visited the North Kildare area over the last number of summers when an invasion fleet of trucks, vans and high-class cars complete with expensive road surfacing paraphernalia gained entry to farmland, school car parks and recreational areas. Only after the payment of substantial amounts of money in legal fees were they convinced to vacate the properties, leaving behind large amounts of rubbish, including human excrement, to be cleaned up by the taxpayer or landowner.
He refers to the life of the Traveller as the manifestation of a nomadic disposition, a romantic sounding description of what is in reality a stressful, difficult lifestyle with a short life expectancy, ill health and poor educational opportunity.
Prof Binchy says that it is wrong for legislation to target groups. Surely most legislation targets a group in some way - speed limits, bar licensing laws, reproductive legislation, etc. I find myself in a most unusual position in having to point out to Prof Binchy that sometimes paternalistic laws must be enacted for the protection of an individual or a group (the wearing of a crash helmet by a motorcyclist, for example.). The proposed trespass law must be seen as being necessary for the protection of Citizen Traveller from those within his own group who adopt the nomadic lifestyle only as a means to avoid accountability and traceability. This law will help to eliminate the perceived injustice and inequality within the settled community that travellers are not required to be responsible citizens, which further fuels prejudice and racism within the settled community. - Yours, etc.,
Dr GERARD A. WATERS,
Whitethorn Clinic,
Maynooth Road,
Celbridge,
Co Kildare.