Sir, – Deputy Charlie Flanagan’s response (“Separate status for Travellers a misguided idea”, Opinion, February 1st) to proposed legislation to recognise Travellers as a distinct ethnic group is deeply disappointing.
He is at odds with the UN Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, which has twice criticised Ireland’s “persistent refusal” to recognise Travellers as an ethnic minority, even though they meet the internationally recognised criteria for such a group.
The Irish Human Rights Commission and the Equality Authority, among a range of other organisations, support ethnic minority status for Travellers.
Travellers are recognised as an ethnic group in the North, creating the anomaly that they are perceived differently depending on which side of the border they live.
Travellers in Ireland suffer substantial levels of racial discrimination. They are more likely to be unemployed and living in poverty than people in the settled community.
Recognising their status as an ethnic minority is not about bestowing privileges. It is about helping them achieve the same equality of opportunity and treatment to which everyone on this island, Traveller or settled, is entitled. – Yours, etc,