Peace process mediator to tackle Traveller conflict

A MEDIATOR with the Northern Ireland peace process has been engaged to assist in ending the enduring conflict between Travellers and the settled community.

John Mulligan, who took a leading role in the Glencree peace and reconciliation process and is assisting with conflict resolution in the Middle East, has been working with the Irish Traveller Movement (ITN) for the past six months.

The Travellers support group yesterday unveiled a radical plan involving mediators which is designed to tackle violence within the Traveller community.

Public debates and meetings are also being lined up over the next few months to bring settled communities closer to Travellers and to discuss issues including prejudice and discrimination. Gardaí will also be invited to meet Travellers’ groups.

At its AGM in Athlone, the Travellers umbrella body said the meetings would be a key plank of the strategy, claiming the oppressive treatment of Travellers by the settled community was central to the feuds.

Director Damien Peelo said: “We hope to engage with the settled community through partnership and raising awareness, with the intention of challenging oppressive practices. This may entail some painful self-reflection and change within both communities.”

Mr Peelo said his group sees reports of Travellers being refused entry to bars or having weddings cancelled because of who they were. He said the community felt it was not being supported by the gardaí, leading to frustration and anger. The ITM chief said feuding and violence was carried out by a minority and did not reflect Travellers’ rich culture.

Speaking after the meeting, John Mulligan called on the Government to reverse its decision not to recognise Travellers as an ethnic minority. “That means they cannot access certain services and are not seen to possess a collective identity. Travellers are subject to a form of structural violence here. Generally, they have got a bad deal, particularly from the criminal justice system.” He highlighted the need for a culturally sensitive approach to conflict alongside existing state laws.

“Many of the ways in which Travellers have traditionally dealt with conflict are not widely known or understood outside the community such as fist fighting, use of elders... staying quiet, religion and use of outside experts. Some of these methods are no longer effective in the changed environment which the Traveller community finds itself in contemporary Ireland.”