Travellers next to confront the State?

ON December 9, 2005, High Court damages of €120,000 were awarded against the State to the parents of Lewis O’Carroll, a 15-year-old autistic boy, to compensate for the breach of his right to education and care to date.

The State also agreed to provide an agreed programme of education for Lewis at unquantified expense. Presumably, legal costs in the case, to be borne by the State, will also be substantial.

I was reminded of the O’Carroll case by a recent news report that only 27% of Traveller girls attend any second-level school at all, with only 2% actually sitting the Leaving Cert.