“the lost road”: traveller housing in contemporary ireland, and its interplay with cultural...

Chapter 5

“THE LOST ROAD”: TRAVELLER HOUSING IN

CONTEMPORARY IRELAND, AND ITS

INTERPLAY WITH CULTURAL EROSION AND HEALTH

Teresa Agnes Staniewicz*a and Marie Claire Van Houtb aCentre for Rights, Equality and Diversity (CRED),

University of Warwick, UK bSchool of Health Sciences, Waterford Institute of Technology, Ireland

ABSTRACT

The restricted nature of positive inter-relations between Irish Travellers and the

sedentary population within associational life, serves to exacerbate both institutional and

media-generated discrimination, and contributes to public distrust and xenophobia.

Successive governments’ aggressive and coercive efforts to assimilate Travellers through

enforced housing have led to a dissipation of Traveller culture, transience and traditional

Traveller family networks. This in turn has led to continued poor health status,

unemployment and low educational attainment. This chapter is based on the authors’

contributions to the European Agency of Fundamental Rights (FRA) comparative report,

The Housing Conditions of Roma and Travellers in the European Union. The authors

have sought to use extant literature on Travellers’ past and current situational experiences

in Ireland, so as to provide a detailed account of the impact of Traveller housing on their

social situation, health and well-being. This chapter presents a historical context to the

Traveller community in Ireland and then discusses contemporary housing data relating to

Travellers, with a particular focus on health. In the past, Irish government policy has been

to treat Irish Travellers as a homogenous population, with no recognition of inner-group

differentiation. Furthermore, all previous attempts to remove barriers for this group’s

assimilation and integration have failed. These were implemented via an assimilationist

model, which relied on their relinquishing core sub-cultural Traveller identity, and

aspects relating to transience. The FRA comparative report noted that Travellers continue

to be failed by contemporary policies, drawing attention to widespread prejudice and

negative attitudes levelled towards Travellers. Housing provision in Ireland remains

* Corresponding author: Email: [email protected], Phone: +44 (0)24 76 575291

Teresa Agnes Staniewicz and Marie Claire Van Hout 2

fraught, with problems relating to Traveller harassment and discrimination, inadequate

site provision, a lack of consideration of Traveller cultural needs, and ultimately, with

enforced Traveller assimilation through fixed housing. All collectively contributing to

continued health disparity.

Keywords: Please note the following as the 10 Keywords:

Cultural (Mis)Appropriation, Discrimination, Health, Intergenerational Poverty, Irish

Travellers, Mental Health, Nomadism, Sub-cultural Ethnicities, Suppressive Sedentatist

Ideologies, Xenophobia.

INTRODUCTION

Travellers lay claim to a very long and richly established history in Ireland, having

existed in Irish society since medieval times (Bhreatnach, 2006; Binchy, 1994; Clarke, 1998;

Ni Shuinear, 1994). Irish Travellers are often depicted as an itinerant people of Irish origin,

living in Ireland, United Kingdom (UK) and United States (US). The latest available official

figures for Travellers residing in Ireland, namely 22,435, are from the 2006 Census (CSO,

2006; Watt & Charles, 2009). It is estimated that 200,000 – 300,000 Irish Travellers live in

the UK and 7,000 in the US (Powers, 2004). Although dispersed, Irish Travellers share a

range of cultural traits, and internal group hierarchies wherever they reside (Okely, 1983).

Collectively, the following traits serve to distinguish them from the sedentarist society:

distinctive and traditional cultural outlook and language, inter-generational

entrepreneurialism, emphasis on independent learning, adult roles assumed at an early age,

highly prescriptive moral codes, and, values acknowledging the centrality of the extended

Traveller family1. Fundamentally, Traveller cultural essence hinges on nomadism and

transience, and this in effect forms their sub-cultural identification (Staniewicz, 2012), which

operates as an extension of the “Traveller self” (Power, 2004). Research by Liégeois (1987, p.

53) observed that “nomadism can also be more a state of mind than an actual situation” but

remains an inherent characteristic of Traveller ethnic freedom and identity and is grounded in

a reluctance to engage with outsiders, and a reinforcement of boundary recognition (Liégeois,

1994). Many Irish Travellers still speak their language (“Gammon” or “Cant”), which

comprises a combination of “disguised” Irish and English words that uses English language

syntax and sentence structure (Binchy, 1994).

Over time, Traveller history has been consistently misrepresented and predominantly

written by the “Gaujos”, or, non-Gypsy populations (Bhreatnach, 2007; Fraser, 1995).

Indeed, diverse Gypsy and Traveller groups face a lack of recognition of their unique

respective cultural specificities within contemporary public/academic discourses, and are

depicted as part of the homogeneous anthology, namely GRTs (Gypsies, Roma and

Travellers). By extension, Wolf’s (1982) portrayal of GRT groups as, “Europe’s people

without a history” seems rather badly chosen (MacLaughlin, 1998, p. 417). It is essential to

note the historical context for contemporary sedentarist discourse, which enables ongoing

1 The Patrin site comprehensively covers this and other related cultural beliefs:

http://www.oocities.com/~patrin/beliefs.htm

“The Lost Road”: Traveller Housing in Contemporary Ireland … 3

multiple levels of discrimination within a wider political and social interplay of progress and

emergent nationalistic development. Travellers are not viewed simply as the “Other” when

juxtaposed with sedentarist society, but rather, are treated as being in total opposition to them,

and as a threat to nationalist views. This has placed them at the “hostile” end of the “tradition

– modernity continuum”, which has served to make them easy targets for racist abuse and

prejudice (MacLaughlin, 1998, p. 421). Their depictions in the contemporary populist

programs, are a case in point2. Contemporary nomenclature used by academics, media, and

policy makers alike - serves to conflate such groups’ individual historical and cultural

differences. The term GRT represents a paradigm whereby Irish Travellers are often placed

within the collective GRT literature, both within academic (Binchy, 1994; Clark, 2002;

Clarke, 1998; Liégeois, 1994; Liégeois & Gheorghe, 1995; Ni Shuinear, 1994; Okely, 1983;

Webster & Millar, 2001) and policy circles (such as local authorities, government agencies,

and independent think-tanks (Cemlyn, 2008).

This collective grouping has resulted in obscuring the specific issues faced by each group

and may contribute to further distancing from sedentarist host societies. Housing is

fundamental to Traveller sub-cultural self-identity, and therefore their situational experience,

and transience is one such example. This chapter intends to illustrate how over time,

sedentarist discourse targeting Traveller groups has dictated housing policies and coercive

Traveller assimilation in Ireland, resulting in restricted movement across both urban and rural

landscapes, resulting in a host of social problems (Bhreatnach, 2006; MacLaughlin, 1998;). In

so doing, Irish Travellers’ “sense of self” has been appropriated by non-Traveller settled

communities, and redefined in an essentialist manner (Pereira-Bastos, 2010)3. Indeed, this

assimilatory conflict between Traveller existence, land, and nomadism, has been theorised in

existing literature such as, Outsiders in Urban Society (Sibley, 1982), On the Verge (Kenrick

& Bakewell, 1995), Anywhere but Here (Daly, 1990), Gaining Ground (Morris & Clements,

1999), and Becoming Conspicuous (Bhreatnach, 2006). This has resulted in considerable

social cost relating to social integration, health, education and employment, as Travellers

have attempted to preserve and retain their culture, where one primary aspect is manifested in

the form of culturally specific housing needs, a core element of their “sub-cultural identity

maintainment” (Staniewicz, 2001, 2012).

IRISH TRAVELLERS - A HISTORY

The pre-colonial acceptance of the nomadic way of life in Ireland contrasts strongly with

the emergence of radical exclusion of “Tinkers” from the sedentarist societies in latter day

United Kingdom and Ireland (Bhreatnach, 2006; Court, 1985). Indeed, MacLaughlin (1998,

p. 417) has observed how Travellers were treated as “social anachronisms in an increasingly

sanitized and ‘settled’ society”. He argued how Travellers in Europe were increasingly

situated within contested terrains inhabited by “insiders” and defended by “outsiders and not

least nomadic outsiders” (MacLaughlin, 1998, p. 417). In Ireland, the Report of the

2 http://www.channel4.com/programmes/my-big-fat-gypsy-wedding 3 Although, it needs noting here that there is a very different British discrimination against Irish Travellers than

Gypsies, with the former blamed for worse behaviour than the latter, and regarded as a much more anti-social group

by the sedentary population.


Commission on Itinerancy in 1963 classified Traveller families as different from “normal”

families and recommended the need for family size reduction. Ni Shuinear (1994, p. 55) also

observed that the discussion surrounding Traveller origins and indeed contemporary Traveller

positioning within sedentarist society was determined by, “the unspoken assumption that the

validity of Gypsy Traveller culture is up for definition and approval by the majority

population”. According to Fanning (2002), by 1983 Irish Travellers were recognised as a

distinct group based on personal choice and limited by a narrow understanding of Traveller

culture. Indeed, as Gray (2000, p. 178) observed through Irish Traveller interviews:

You’re treated like an Irish person in England, you’re not classed as Traveller or Gypsy

or anything ... I think of Ireland as Irish people and Traveller people in the minds of the

settled people. You’re not Irish and yet the Traveller people feel more Irish than some of

the Irish people.

Xenophobic media portrayal of Travellers as itinerants and criminals have served to fuel

Traveller prejudice, thereby making Traveller acceptance within dominant public discourse

fraught with problems (Clark & Campbell, 2000). White and Gilmartin (2008) scrutinized

Laury Oaks’ media analysis in 2002, which highlighted “widespread Irish ‘endogenous

racism’” directed against Travellers (Oaks, 2002, p. 319). Bhreatnach (2006) has also sought

to understand the historical status of Irish Travellers, and how attitudes altered towards them

at different times throughout history. Changes in Irish state and society from the period after

World War I were seen to affect substantial alienation towards Irish Travellers. She noted

crucial aspects based on community and social presence of itinerants as important in changing

attitudes towards mobility, and, in helping the poor. Hawes and Perez (1994, p. 14) have

proposed that the hostility toward the Traveller groups was harnessed by the state, in the form

of harsh social exclusionary methods from settled areas, and the redefinition of the term

“itinerant” into becoming associated with being something derogatory. They observed, “Even

the most reasonable and community-minded people see Gypsies as an enormous threat”.

In an attempt to mitigate these perceptions, the later report of the Travelling Review

Body, had as its principal objective, “to reduce progressively the present hostility to

Travellers by large sections of the settled population” (Report of the Travelling Review Body,

1983, p. 15). Building on this, McCann et al. (1994, p. xi-xii) underscored the need to

examine these problems via an ethnicity lens, since this:

Has radical implications for the study of Irish Travellers because it approaches Traveller

culture as distinct and valuable in its own right with its own historical path of

development, rather than as a short term adaptation to poverty or marginality. (The

Equality Authority (IE), 2006, p. 53)

It remains evident that coercive assimilatory practices in the last century have forced

Traveller groups to relinquish their nomadic cultural practices, and selectively acculturate

within associational life (Liégeois, 1994; Liégeois & Gheorghe, 1995). Sheehan (2000, p. 43)

also stated that,

All efforts directed at improving the lot of itinerants and at dealing with the problems

created by them, and all the schemes drawn up for these purposes, must always have as

their aim the eventual absorption of the Itinerants into the general community.


Continued legislative practices therefore reflect inherent racism directed against

Travellers by way of attempts to settle, control their movements, and, criminalise the itinerant

way of life (Crowley, 2006). Earlier observations by Liégeois (1987) continue to reinforce the

suppressive ideologies based on the prohibition of residence, nomadism and settling. The

demise of Traveller transience on Irish roads has occurred due to politics of settlement and

broader integrative policies in Ireland. Traditionally, Traveller accommodation was on sites

located on common land or land that was generally recognised as “de facto transient” sites

(Court, 1985). Indeed, MacLaughlin (1998, p. 421) observed that Traveller sites as a

collective social mechanism, “were the social cement which bound communities together in a

weakly unified national space”. Seasonal movement of Traveller families between Ireland and

the UK was (and is) common. Parry et al. (2004) reported that the majority of Irish Travellers

in the UK had experienced transiency, with many retaining the desire for themselves and their

children to preserve their identity as Travellers, collectively remaining as “outsiders” and

preserving their sense of the “itinerant way of life”. Indeed, this form of “sub-cultural

maintainment” is still observed both in Ireland and the UK (Staniewicz, 2001; Van Hout,

2011).

THE EU COMPARATIVE REPORT FINDINGS

In October 2009 the Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA), publicly launched its

comparative report entitled Housing Conditions of Roma and Travellers in the European

Union (EU)4. This is currently the most up to date evidence base on EU-wide housing data for

these groups. It details the current housing experiences of Roma and Travellers, and it draws

upon the FRA’s country-specific reports of the same, which FRA had commissioned its

RAXEN network to undertake5. We also draw upon FRA’s country specific contributory

reports on Traveller housing in Ireland, in discussing the relationship between the current

Traveller housing evidence base, and socio-situational health aspects of Irish Traveller

associational life, in contemporary sedentarist discourse. A caveat needs to be noted here, in

that research efforts remain highly challenging, and grounded in problematic access. Indeed,

Irish Traveller estimates remain clouded by central flaws in official counts, namely a lack of

representational sampling relating to the lack of inclusion of Irish Travellers, residing in any

form of fixed housing (whether social or private), and, those being seasonally nomadic (FFT,

2008; FRA, 2009a). Many “settled” Irish Travellers reportedly choose not to return census

forms, resulting from the fear of authorities and their power to exercise even more control

over Travellers’ lives with any new information (Power, 2004).

Although many Irish Travellers lead a “settled” life with an identity grounded in the

cultural nomadic practices of former generations, those more nomadic prove far harder to

4 This is the most recent and up-to-date EU-wide evidence base on these groups’ various housing issues. 5 This network operated from 2000-2011, and consisted of a series of organizations, known as National Focal

Points (NFP), one in each of the EU member states, and provided FRA with a range of information covering

primarily discrimination issues and how they are seen to intersect with ethnic and other minority groups’ social,

economic, educational, housing, and general material experiences. This information was delivered via a series of

reports to FRA throughout the year. The RAXEN network has now been replaced by the FRANET one; which

reflects the changing role of FRA, and incorporates a wider mandate, that of fundamental rights’ issues.


reach, and are thereby mostly invisible to the researcher (Brown & Scullion, 2009; Staniewicz

& Owen, 2009; Van Cleemput & Parry, 2001; Van Hout, 2011). These inconsistencies

unfortunately underscore the inherent problems with formal (official) figure collation

exercises for Traveller populations across the EU (FRA, 2009a). The difficulties in estimating

Traveller numbers in Ireland are seen to impact negatively on the appropriate consideration of

housing needs, as well as in determining the provision of, culturally appropriate and safe

accommodation. Current housing is characterised by problems relating to access, location,

adequate public service provision, local hostility, prejudices and security of tenure,

overcrowding, all contributing to further marginalisation; dislocation of Traveller families,

access to education, and, health services (FRA, 2009b). The FRA comparative report also

drew attention to the ongoing widespread prejudice and negative attitudes towards all such

groups (including Roma, Gypsies, and Travellers).

The comparative report noted the disappearance of Traveller nomadism in response to

policies, prohibition orders, trespass legislation, changing land usage and urbanisation (Van

Cleemput, 2007). There are also some examples noting attempts at building their own small

communities, on land - generally greenbelt - bought from local councils. For instance, Dale

Farm is an Irish Traveller halting site located in Crays Hill, in Essex, which has attracted a

considerable amount of public scrutiny over the last few years. This is because the land which

the local authority, namely Basildon District Council, sold to the Irish Travellers was with

planning permission for 40 families. Over the years, further sections of the original land,

which is greenbelt land, and, with no planning permission, have been used to accommodate

many more Irish Traveller families.

Traveller families choosing to park in halting sites are commonly confronted by

considerably less legal halting sites, with the location of these often being in segregated areas

with minimum living standards (Van Cleemput, 2007). There is a shortage of permanent and

transient halting sites which provide for non-foundations based accommodation in Ireland

(Watt & Charles, 2009). The report stated that Travellers in Ireland are likely to live in sub-

standard or group housing accommodation. In 2005, approximately 1500 Travellers in Ireland

still required some form of permanent accommodation. The 2006 Census in Ireland found that

40.6% of Travellers lived in “temporary housing units”, of which 91% were without central

heating, 38% were without piped water and 35% were without sewerage. The 2007 “Annual

Count of Traveller Families” found that 7% of the total 8,099 Traveller families were living

in unauthorised accommodation, such as unofficial sites or illegal encampments (Treadwell-

Shine, Kane, & Coates, 2008). The FRA Ireland country report also revealed that there are no

national statistics on Traveller evictions in Ireland. Forced evictions appear to be facilitated

by the Housing Act 2002 (Section 10), where local authorities can serve notice to remove an

“unauthorized temporary dwelling” from an “unauthorised site” thereby criminalizing the

family for following the Traveller way of life. The court can take into consideration any

breach of statutory duty to provide halting sites for Travellers, and thereby move Travellers

on without offering alternative housing6 (Watt & Charles, 2009). In addition, Traveller

6 Ireland/Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act (2002), available at:

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/2002/en/act/pub/0009/index.html


planning applications and residences on public sites continue to suffer from a significant

likelihood of rejection and enforcement proceedings in Ireland7.

Available information on the levels of Travellers owning their own home in Ireland

indicates that only 21.1% of Traveller families own their own fixed home compared with

74.6% of the sedentarist Irish population (Center for Housing Research, 2008). Prejudices and

issues securing mortgages compound this issue. In terms of private rented accommodation,

30% of Travellers in Ireland in 2009 resided in private rented accommodation or on

unauthorized sites (DEHLG, 2008, 2009). In comparison to non-Travellers, the percentage of

Travellers living in standard local authority housing is significantly higher, with census

statistics (CSO, 2006) indicating that 51.2% of Traveller families compared with 7.2% of

non-Irish Traveller families rent housing from a local authority (CSO, 2006; DEHLG, 2009).

The Accommodation for Travellers Action Group, outlined concerns raised in the Northern

Ireland legal instrument, the Bill of Rights 2008 (clause 17, p. 92), in relation to housing,

which noted that there was currently inadequate provision for Travellers’ needs. In Northern

Ireland, only 5% of Travellers lived in group housing (UKNIHE, 2008), with only 22% of the

8,099 Traveller families, living in Traveller specific accommodation (both group and halting

sites) in Ireland (DEHLG, 2009). In Northern Ireland approximately 9% of Traveller families

in 2009, lived in private accommodation, with 42% living in social housing schemes

(UKNIHE, 2008).

The Department of Health and Children in Ireland has acknowledged that:

There is little doubt that the living conditions of Travellers are probably the single

greatest influence on health status … It is clear that an immediate improvement in the

living conditions of Travellers is a prerequisite to the general improvement of health

status. (DoH, 2002-2005, p. 5)

The IE country specific FRA Housing reports published alongside the comparative report

are replete with examples of inadequate service, and a severe lack of government

accountability regarding the provision for Irish Travellers’ needs. Statistics in Ireland in 2001

showed that 24.5% of Traveller families were living on un-serviced sites or by the side of the

road; and thereby lacking fundamental facilities and services pertaining to refuse collection,

sanitation, water, electricity, safe play areas and fire precautions (ITM, 2002). Indeed, the

CESCR8 noted that housing must be both adequate and in locations allowing access to

employment options, health-care services, schools, child-care centres and other social

facilities. In Ireland, a 2008 report highlighted the presence of environmental hazards near

82.5% of halting sites and group housing schemes (Coates et al., 2008). Other concerns

remain central, in the lack of cultural consideration for the Traveller preference of situating

the toilet outside of the site (for example the toilet situated next to the kitchens in many local

authority sites) (Staniewicz, 2009, p. 36), and the lack of consideration of the collective Irish

Traveller family (Niner, 2004; Van Cleemput, 2007). Indeed, many of these problems directly

affect the health and social well-being of Traveller families (Barry et al., 1987).

7 For instance, see the Pavee Point media monitoring for numerous cases of evictions in Ireland:

http://pavee.ie/mediamonitor/?tag=accommodation 8 CESCR (1991) General Comment 4, The right to adequate housing, (Art. 11 (1) of the Covenant), available at:

http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/47a7079a1.html


Overall, the comparative report observed a general lack of social housing provision in

Ireland which acknowledges the need for accommodating extended and wider Irish Traveller

family networks to live together, or even to accommodate the addition of bays for caravans in

some areas. The provision of specifically designed halting sites and group housing schemes

for Travellers is needed to accommodate needs, culture and choices to live as collective

groups of Traveller families. In particular, the comparative report stated that spatial

segregation of Traveller groups has incurred a negative effect on education, employment and

health of Travellers (CRE, 2006). However, anecdotal reports from Ireland where 22.4% of

Travellers live in segregated settings (Centre for Housing Research, 2008) indicate that

segregation (i.e., Traveller only accommodation) is not necessarily perceived as a negative

thing from the Traveller viewpoint (Pavee Point, 2005), and underscored the need for timely

integrative planning, on behalf of both the local authorities, and the Travellers themselves,

with recognized input from Travellers. It also noted an increase in Traveller uptake of social

housing and permanent accommodation since 2002, which has resulted in heightened

reporting of Traveller harassment, and cultural attrition (DCLG, 2007; DEHLG, 2008; FRA,

2009b).

In Ireland, the provision of halting sites and other accommodation provision is overseen

via the requirement of all local authorities in Ireland (see the Housing (Traveller

Accommodation) Act 1998) to draw up four-year renewable Traveller Accommodation

Programmes (TAPs) and the establishment of a National Traveller Accommodation

Consultative Committee (NTACC). This is tasked with monitoring and advising the

Department of the Environment to ensure that local authorities carry out their statutory duty

to plan and to deliver TAPs Indeed, Section 10 (3) requires Irish housing authorities to devise

an accommodation programme to consider, inter alia, “(6) the distinct needs and family

circumstances of Travellers”. However, the recent homelessness report Towards 2016 in

Ireland has observed the lack of accountability and lack of delivery in these social housing

outputs, and identifies the land planning system in Ireland as a significant barrier to the

delivery of Traveller halting sites and group housing schemes. Local authorities have failed in

their efforts to provide safe and culturally accommodating sites, (both permanent and

transient) for Travellers (Clements & Morris, 2001). Irish Traveller family networks are no

longer residing in close proximity with one another. Such fragmented Irish Traveller families

then have to deal with dislocation, isolation, sedentarist community harassment, and

vigilantism. The curtailing of nomadic lifestyles, lack of security, threat of eviction and social

isolation in local authority housing schemes are viewed to reinforce social exclusion and

tensions between Travellers and “settled” authorities and exacerbates the overall impact on

the health and well-being of such groups (Niner, 2005, 2006; Van Cleemput et al., 2007; Van

Hout, 2011). This is illustrated by Power (2004, p. 36):

Irish Travellers can suffer high levels of anxiety, distress and depression due to the

pressures of leading an outlawed nomadic lifestyle, or living on a ‘ghettoised’

overcrowded authorised site with no security of tenure, or being confined to inappropriate

settled housing on ‘sink’ estates. All these modes of accommodation can undermine

extended family support structures with possible dire consequences for communal and

individual physical and mental well-being.


However, like housing statistics, Traveller health statistics in Ireland remain hampered by

lack of consistent and transparent data collection, even though research reports on the general

level of Traveller health disparity underpinned by poor housing provision and situation, large

families, high unemployment, social welfare dependency, alcohol and drug abuse and overall

deprivation (CRE, 2006; Staniewicz, 2009; Watt & Charles, 2009). Moreover, in Ireland, a

widening health gap between Travellers and the sedentarist Irish population is evident

(DoHC, 2002; Fountain, 2006; Kelleher, 2005; Murphy, 2005; Van Hout 2010a). Studies on

Traveller health in Ireland (Barry et al., 1986) have been enhanced by the more recent highly

comprehensive All Ireland Traveller Health Study (Kelleher et al., 2011). This comprehensive

study reported that life expectancy for Travellers continues to be significantly lower than the

national average and in particular for Traveller men. Also, Traveller families are on record as

one of the highest birth rates in the EU, coupled with high levels of still birth, infant

mortality, low birth weight and premature deaths of older offspring; and some evidence of

hereditary disease caused by consanguinity. Previous Irish research has reported that un-

housed Travellers (i.e., living in unofficial halting sites and on the roadside) present with

higher mortality rates than those housed, and mainly due to risk of accidental death (Barry et

al., 1987). Irish Travellers also have greater incidence in the following physical health

conditions: asthma, chest infections, heart disease, diabetes, stroke, cancer, disability,

diarrhea, a high frequency of infections, and other health complications related to

compromised life circumstances, such as drug dependency (Power, 2004; Van Cleemput,

2007; Van Hout, 2010a, 2010b, 2010c, 2011). In addition, and perhaps hinging on

contemporary enforced housing of Travellers, above average rates of poor mental health in

the form of depression and suicides are reported (Power, 2004; Van Cleemput & Parry,

2001). Health service uptake remains problematic and compromised by lack of cultural

sensitivity and concerns around confidentiality (Van Hout, 2010a), with the National

Traveller Health Strategy in 2005 (Murphy, 2005) reporting on the lack of ethnic

identification of Travellers in health systems, and the lack of focus on Traveller psychiatric

health, intellectual disability, substance use, gender differences and suicides.

CONCLUSION

Within their respective dominant sedentarist worlds, the contemporary situational

experiences of Irish Travellers in Ireland can be best described as inter-generational life-

states, characterized by cultural disenfranchisement and inherent life-disparity. The

deconstruction of Irish Traveller identity is of heuristic value in identifying the various social

well-being and health problems manifesting themselves as a direct consequence of housing

processes. Culturally-determined housing and accommodation efforts in Ireland have

reinforced the contested physical, social and individual space for Travellers existing in the

sedentarist world. Personal experience of the authors in researching Irish Travellers in Ireland

and the UK shows that many lament the loss of family cohesiveness and their transient nature,

and the fact that in the event of conflict, they cannot simply “get up and go”. In addition,

many older Irish Travellers simply prefer to be socially excluded; and in essence, find this

route affords them a better chance to retain their culture (Van Hout, 2011). Efforts to contain

Irish Traveller groups in certain areas by way of enforced housing have also led to heightened


discrimination, vigilantism and perceptions of aggressive assimilation (Pavee Point, 2005).

To the Travellers themselves, such experiences have had great social costs, in terms of both

physical and mental well-being. Within these changing times however, and the need to find

new social spaces for Travellers, research has suggested the presence of identified “push”

factors which lead Irish Traveller families to seek and accept local authority and similar such

housing as a consequence of increased difficulties sustaining the “Traveling way of life”

(Clark & Greenfields, 2006; Niner, 2003; Treadwell et al., 2008; Van Cleemput, 2007).

However, such research also posits a caveat, in that for these Irish Travellers who are

effectively relinquishing their freedom, there exists little agency support and frequent

instances of harassment coupled with family isolation and dislocation with many Traveller

families failing, and reverting back to site residency (Clark & Greenfields, 2006). The

relinquishing of Traveller cultural identity and aspects relating to transience, and

governmental attempts to treat Irish Travellers as a homogenous population does not, and has

not, automatically opened the gate for this group’s assimilation and integration within Ireland

in contemporary times (Watt & Charles, 2009). Ultimately, this chapter has sought to

emphasise how the various forms of provision of accommodation for Travellers collectively

interplay with Traveller health, manifested inter-generationally, serving only to add to the

cycle of inequitable experience.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) funded its then EU-wide

network – RAXEN – to undertake the national Roma and Traveller Housing studies, which

were used for the comparative report (FRA, 2009a). The Roma UK Housing Study was

funded in this way. As FRA’s partner this project also received support from Pavee Point,

National Traveller Centre, Ireland.

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