Traveller group calls for media 'responsibility'

Traveller organisations have called for the media to use "responsibility" in reporting at Traveller encampments.

The groups have accepted that Travellers should exercise responsibility in their choice of camp, but have accused the media of enflaming tensions by focusing on negative aspects of the camps.

Ronnie Fay, the director of the Pavee Point Travellers’ Centre, said: “The press has a responsibility because highlighting the negative stuff doesn’t exactly contribute to the building of good relations.

"Likewise, Traveller organisations have a responsibility to challenge Travellers in terms of their behaviour because that doesn’t contribute to building a healthy community for everyone to live in.”