Éamon Ó Cuív backs Bill to set Oireachtas committee for travellers
Éamon Ó Cuív spoke in support of a Bill to establish an Oireachtas Joint Committee on issues relating to the travelling community and thanked the Bill sponsors and Government for backing the measure. He outlined his long-standing interest in travellers' rights, highlighted public prejudice and urged education as the route to change.
Bill support and acknowledgements
He thanked Colette Kelleher, Lynne Ruan and Grace O'Sullivan for introducing the Bill in the Seannet, and Deputy Pringle for bringing it to the House. He also thanked the Ceann Comhairle for agreeing to set up the Joint Committee and the Minister and a Government Deputy for their support, which he called vital to getting the Bill through the House.
Origins of his advocacy
He described first becoming interested in the travelling community as a student through the influence of Michal McGrail, a Jesuit who lived with travellers and documented prejudice and tolerance in Ireland. He recalled writing the foreword to McGrail's final book, which dedicated its account to Ireland's travelling community and framed the evidence of discrimination starkly.
Public attitudes and statistics
He said public attitudes to the travelling community are very negative and discriminatory and cited a statistic to illustrate this - that 18% of Irish people believe Irish travellers should not have Irish citizenship. He argued the State in a democracy often reflects popular views, and that those views have serious consequences for the travelling community.
Education as a remedy
He urged education as the means to change intergenerational prejudice, arguing that informing young people about the travellers' long tradition, history and culture will help free them from discriminatory attitudes. He invoked the idea that educating people enables freedom and framed the Bill as a step toward that educational effort.
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Thank you very much. There is a Deputy from the Government here as well as the Minister. Just the one, is it? Well, just the one, yes. There are two of us out of a party of 37. You worked the percentage out for yourself. There are not very many deputies in general in the House here. I would like to, first of all, thank Colette Kelleher, Lynne Ruan and Grace O'Sullivan for introducing this Bill in the Seannet. Ceann Comhairle, I would like to thank you for agreeing to set up an Oireachtas Joint Committee dealing with issues relating to the travelling community when you were asked to do so by Senator Kelleher, after the discussion I had with her for the need for such a committee. Because in discussions we had, we agreed that unless there was a dedicated committee with the huge amount of issues faced by the travelling community, we would never get round within the then existing structures of Leinster House to deal adequately with the myriad of challenges that the community faces. I would like to thank Deputy Pringle, who I have cooperated with on other issues for bringing the Bill in here, and I would like to thank the Minister for the decision which is vital to getting the Bill through the House, that the Government will support the Bill. I first became interested in the travelling community when I was a student through the inspiration of Michal McGrail, a Jesuit who had made it his business to live with the travellers, to get to know them, and to speak about the huge challenges they face. And this isn't today or yesterday. And I had the great honour when he wrote his last book detailing prejudice and tolerance in Ireland. I was asked by him to write the foreword to that book. And it is interesting that he dedicated the whole monumental work he did, and the whole span of prejudice and tolerance in Ireland, to Ireland's travelling community. And then he put a hyphen, Ireland's apartheid. And he didn't understate the matter from the evidence in the book. Now I often wonder, does the State reflect the people? And does the State altogether, or is it the other way round that the State dictates attitudes to the people? I think in many, many ways the reality is that the State in a democracy reflects the views of the people. And unfortunately when it comes to travellers, those views are very, very negative, discriminatory, and have serious consequences. Having had to read the book to write the foreword. Looking across the whole span of all the different prejudice and tolerances, the one thing that jumped out was that the general public attitude to the travelling community was the most negative of all. For example, I think the figure was 18% of Irish people believe that Irish travellers should not have Irish citizenship. And when you look at all of the other sociological indicators, they are all on the most negative side. And we will only change these attitudes by education. By informing people that the travelling community are a community who have a long tradition, a long history, and a deep culture. I think it was Davis that said, educate that you may be free. And I hope that arising from this bill, what we will achieve is that we will educate all the young people of Ireland, so that they may be free of intergenerational prejudice towards a very important Indigenous community in this country. Thank you Deputy. Thank you Deputy.
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