Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 13 Feb 1996

Vol. 461 No. 4

Adjournment Debate. - Travellers and Crime.

Mr. Flood

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to raise this important matter on the Adjournment and the Minister of State for coming into the House to reply.

The recent outbreak of serious crime in rural areas is totally reprehensible and all right thinking people condemn it out of hand, whatever its source. Michael McDonagh, a traveller, speaking on behalf of the Irish Travellers Movement said: "The crimes are horrific and those responsible have to be dealt with severely, whoever they are". Gearóid Ó Riain of Pavee Point Travellers Centre also spoke out very strongly against the crimes and those who committed them.

A great deal of media attention has been devoted to the problem of serious crime following the tragic murders of three elderly people in rural areas and two women in Kildare and Dublin. What saddens me is that the travelling community is the only social group to be named in connection with the recent upsurge in horrific crimes. This is totally unjust and creates a perception among the public that all travellers are potential wrongdoers.

I was appalled by the article in the Sunday Independent on 28 January last. One knew instinctively from its title “Time to get tough on tinker terror ‘culture’” that the travelling community were not going to get any sympathy, only less understanding, from the writer. In referring to a “tinker camp” the writer of the article said:

Look at what it is, and what the intellectuals and the politicians say one should honour. It is a life of appetite ungoverned by intellect. It is a life which marauds over private property and disregards public laws. It is a life of money without production, land without cost, damage without compensation, assault without arrest, theft without prosecution and murder without remorse. It is a life worse than the life of beasts, for beasts at least are guided by wholesome instinct. Traveller life is without the ennobling intellect of man or the steadying instinct of animals.

This tinker "culture" is without achievement, discipline, reason or intellectual ambition. It is a morass. And one of the surprising things about it is that not every individual bred in this swamp turns out bad. Some individuals among the tinkers find the will not to become evil.

This disgusting statement is wholly inaccurate. Even the language of the writer confirms that she has no knowledge of travellers, their way of life, history and culture. Writing such as this tends to justify the actions of those in our community who take the law into their own hands by driving travellers from one area to another. Speculation like this completely undermines the ongoing work of traveller organisations in building links between traveller and settled communities. Journalists and newspaper editors have a responsibility to ensure that reports of violent crime are balanced and fair and do not fuel prejudice and intolerance towards the travelling community. I urge the media to exercise caution and to remember that many innocent travellers are endangered by irresponsible journalism.

When speaking recently of the fear of retribution in which many travellers now live, Nancy Collins, a traveller, said:

Our children are afraid in school. Adult travellers are being targeted for abuse on the street and in work. Painting us all as guilty leaves us all open to attack.

The Minister for Equality and Law Reform should examine that newspaper article in detail with a view to initiating action within his Department under section 2 (1) of the Incitement to Hatred Act, 1989. He must also ensure that the recommendations in the report of the Task Force on Travellers published in July 1995 are implemented as quickly as possible. We must make much greater progress on the provision of accommodation to suit the needs of travellers, bearing in mind that an additional 3,100 units of accommodation will be required by the year 2000. We should take note during these difficult times for travellers that 1,100 travelling families live on the side of the road with nowhere to go while another 257 families live in temporary sites. I hope the Minister of State will convey to her colleague the need to look at this newspaper article and initiate the appropriate legal action within his Department.

Minister of State at the Department of Justice (Ms Burton)

I have listened with much interest to Deputy Flood's comments about this newspaper article but it is not appropriate for me as Minister of State at the Department of Justice to make any detailed comment about it except to say that if people wish to lodge a complaint with the Garda that there has been a breach of the Incitement to Hatred Act, 1989, then they are entirely free to do so. As with any criminal complaint, it will then fall to the Garda to investigate it and, if necessary, consult with the law officers.

As regards the general issue of travellers and crime, I wish to make it clear that the fact that a small number of travellers have engaged in criminal activity does not mean that the entire traveller community should be tarred with the same brush. Criminals come from all areas and all walks of life and it is invidious to single out any one group and associate them, as a group, with criminal activities.

Travellers are as entitled to their good name as any other citizen and, as equal citizens, are obliged to assist the Garda in their work. I spoke to many travellers following the dreadful murders in rural areas which I believe gave rise to this newspaper article and they were as horrified as I and every other member of the settled community at these outrageous crimes. I welcome the statements by representatives of the travelling community which have sought to vindicate the good name of the overwhelming majority of travellers and urged them to co-operate with the Garda if they have information which could be of assistance in solving any of these dreadful crimes. The greatest risk of murder that old people and others face is, unfortunately, from people within the family circle, because the vast majority of murders are what are classed as domestic murders.

As to this article by one journalist who has set forth extremely forthright views on the most serious of issues on different occasions, I must also say that there are many Irish journalists who have both sympathetically and with understanding tried to portray traveller life and traveller culture, and to give the public the information which would enable the settled community to break down old fears, shibboleths and misunderstanding about travellers and their way of life, and to arrive at a situation where there could be mutual respect between both communities, with the settled community appreciating the needs of the travellers and the travelling community understanding the needs of the settled community and their requirements.

I want to thank the Deputy for raising the matter. Travellers are as entitled as anybody else to their good name. It is the equivalent of what Deputy Flood must be familiar with, representing a part of west Dublin as I do, that is when a series of crimes occur in one area, regardless of the fact that the families or people involved in crime constitute a tiny minority, everybody in the area ends up getting a bad name.