Controversy concerning Travellers is now as regular a summer occurrence as Wimbledon and hay fever. Once again the airwaves and newspaper columns are filled with outrage about their alleged anti-social behaviour, the problems caused by large convoys, unauthorised encampments and dumping, along with the voices of those who defend them, pointing out that they have little choice, given the lack of authorised encampments, to do anything but camp illegally, with all that that entails, writes Carol Coulter
Increasingly this is becoming a dialogue of the deaf. The settled community appears more indifferent than ever to the discrimination suffered by Travellers, while Traveller organisations appear unwilling or unable to confront the real problems that exist within the Traveller community.
They both make the mistake of treating the entire community as if it is homogeneous. It is not.
Not only are there Travellers who commit crimes and Travellers who do not, those who indulge in anti-social behaviour and those who do not, there are also widespread differences of class, caste, aspirations and attitudes to the rest of society among them.
It has to be acknowledged that a small, but significant, section of the Traveller community is very wealthy.
One only has to travel along some of the main highways in the country and see the enormous houses, surrounded by a dozen or more caravans, belonging to those Traveller families who have been successful in business to realise that it is not just sections of the settled community that has benefited disproportionately from the Celtic Tiger.
One does not know, but have the Revenue Commissioners had tax offered on the wealth that built these houses? In this, as in so many other things, certain types of behaviour condemned among the settled community can be found among Travellers as well.
These families are still likely to suffer a degree of social ostracism. But there is a big difference between their situation and that of families living in poverty on an unauthorised site on the side of the road, with nothing between them and starvation but the social welfare system. Wealth forms a big cushion.
Nor is there much evidence of solidarity across the community. While the extended families of those with resources undoubtedly obtain some benefit from their connection to wealthy families, there is no "trickle down effect" to the community as a whole. Nor are these resources put at the disposal of those organisations seeking to improve the lot of the whole community.
Then there is the issue of feuding. It must be restated that, of course, only a minority of Travellers engage in feuding. But it must also be acknowledged that the prospect of a large group of young men, armed with knives, slash-hooks and other deadly weapons, fighting each other in pubs or the street, is a terrifying one. It is undoubtedly particularly terrifying for those members of the Travelling community who are not involved and who are most likely, by virtue of sheer proximity, to become drawn in as innocent bystanders.
Violence is more likely to occur among people who lack other ways of solving disputes. The systematic exclusion of Travellers from the education system for generations has contributed to stifling alternative ways of expressing and dealing with grievances both within the community and with wider society.
This is combined with an unwillingness of the Garda Síochána to intervene in disputes perceived as internal to the community, and a reluctance on the part of many in the community to co-operate with gardaí in investigating violent crime, perhaps through fear of intimidation.
But the reality of the problem must be faced up to, and mechanisms found to address it. Otherwise the actions of a minority will be used to stigmatise the community as a whole, and to justify continued discrimination and exclusion.
We cannot lose sight of the reality of ongoing discrimination and exclusion. Organisations representing Travellers report an increase in hate mail at this time of year. Instances of discrimination against Traveller children in the education system are widespread. One child's family was moved eight times in the weeks she was sitting the Junior Certificate examination.
Each and every instance of discrimination against Travellers in employment or the provision of services needs to be contested, and the full rigours of the anti-discrimination law brought to bear. Special efforts need to be made to ensure that they can access education and health services, and that other government policies towards them do not frustrate this end. Above all else, the existing and agreed plans for dealing with the problem of accommodation must be implemented as a matter of urgency.
But that is not enough. There needs to be a realistic and mutually respectful discussion of the real problems. Why does feuding take place? What can be done to stop it? How can other forms of anti-social behaviour be tackled?
Are wealthy Travellers willing to pay their fair share of tax and contribute to society? If they are prepared to contribute on the same basis (no more and no less) than the rest of the community, can they be assured of acceptance by it?
This does not take away the responsibility wider society has to find ways to ensure all its citizens have equal rights, and the means to exercise those rights.
But if the difficult issues are not tackled from within the Travelling community, these will be the issues that dominate the agenda. It will get ugly, and then it will not be the wealthy, or those prepared to resort to violence, that will pay. It will be the poor and relatively isolated Travellers, who don't have the means to move on, and who are already bearing the brunt of the discrimination.