How to fix the traveller community

irish2021traveller · 25-09-2021 11:30pm #1

To help the Irish traveller community is in my opinion failing in every aspect of the word. The spokes people in charge of the Irish traveller community have all but set them selves up for life in a massive money grab and has done nothing to actually help. My solution is this,

Privately run property's that have one goal (#work to live better together) all properties will be not your usual halting site bay but a standard house with fencing around the perimeter of the house instead of concrete walls And a garden in the front instead of solid concrete or tarmac front this is to resemble a housing estate.

In this program you will be Garda vetted and in support of of local Garda stations need a character reference as well. In support of the saying one bad egg can spoil the lot.

There has been to many times that one or more travellers has set back the support for the benefit of the Irish traveller community this program can ween them out and promote good behavior pays off.

Opinions is welcome but pull back on the hate speech this is a problem and genocide isn't the way to go. My opinion is the government has travellers exactly where the want my community looking for hand outs like over fed sheep and the settled community hating them for the special treatment so we remain apart

magicbastarder · 25-09-2021 11:33pm

genocide isn't the way to go

true, that.

lintdrummer · 25-09-2021 11:56pm

I don't understand why you think the government has the travelling community right where it wants them? Must be costing a fortune.

I think it's true to say that very few traveler children go to school full time. Education is a big problem within the community. I would suggest that traveler families should be obliged to send their children to school full time or forego a percentage of any welfare payments they receive. However that will never work because you can't deny someone's welfare payment, there would be uproar.

Honestly, the traveler community has to want to change and integrate with wider society, and for the majority of travelers I don't see a willingness to change.

irish2021traveller · 26-09-2021 12:02am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117939974#Comment_117939974

I guess we can both come to an agreement that what is being done so fair isn't working. And what exactly is costing a fortune ? . And to be honest yes many travellers even many people won't admite it have to deal with micro discrimination in the options that nothing they do is good enough

irish2021traveller · 26-09-2021 12:06am

And many do want to change or like my self has ideas that could and would work to integrate more travellers into a more friendly community but the way it's being said by the government and everyone else is there can be no successful help for the traveller community other then snuff it out

irish2021traveller · 26-09-2021 12:08am

I mean peter Casey said to help travellers is to feed a diabetic chocolate lmao 🤣 I mean that's the problem and I get it but come on does that me all of them

PeaSea · 26-09-2021 12:12am

Maybe the schools should go to traveller sites rather than travellers going to schools to increase attendance ? Not ideal to segregate I know but might be worth a shot especially at Primary level to instil the habit ?

lintdrummer · 26-09-2021 12:14am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117940005#Comment_117940005

Costing a fortune for the Government in many ways. In 2010 there was €130m payed out to travellers for a variety of projects. Then you have welfare payments too.

I don't agree that microaggression towards travellers is due to an opinion that nothing they do is good enough. Let's face facts, the community has serious problems. Many people fear travellers because there is unfortunately a cohort of travellers who are intimidating, involved in criminal activity and violence.

Unfortunately, this reflects badly on the whole community because the "bad eggs" are the ones who are regularly making the headlines.

Fred Astaire · 26-09-2021 12:15am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117940005#Comment_117940005

What is costing a fortune?

80 percent of travellers are unemployed. So social welfare for one.

Because 80 percent of travellers are unemployed, travellers when they chose to be housed need to be provided housing. More state money. €15 million last year.

Travellers make up less than one percent of the population yet traveller men make up 10 percent of the overall male prison population and traveller women make up over 20 percent of the overall female prisoner population. More state money prosecuting travellers and keeping them in prison to keep the population safe from them.

More than 1 in 4 traveller households are made up of more than 6 people. For the overall population this is 1 in 20. So travellers are having children at a rate far higher than the settled population, without being able to afford them. More money from the state.

These children don't go through education, more than half of traveller children have left school by 15 and less than 1 percent go onto third level. So all of these travellers end up requiring the same welfare that their parents did.

The thought of a traveller actually going to school, getting educated, getting a job is almost alien to travellers based on the above. And all that's before you get into the other absolutely disgusting, dispicable aspects of the 'culture' such as the inhumane treatment of horses.

So yeah, travellers cost a fortune to the taxpayer. In the real world people have to work and pay for things they want. In the real world, working people don't have children unless they can afford them yet others feel comfortable having as many as they feel like as the state/taxpayer can pay.

I wouldn't be too worried about spokespeople, if travellers actually decided to participate and contribute to society rather than taking and causing trouble at every opportunity then there wouldn't be a need for a spokesperson.

irish2021traveller · 26-09-2021 12:28am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117940058#Comment_117940058

Agreed the Guys I'm my community need there day in court but the way it's all being publicly thrown around is very bad and to be honest ever where I go I am under the pressure that if a potential employer finds out I am a traveller no matter my work ethic that I might not get the job. For example my local petrol station is constantly hiring and I have stopped applying because they know I'm a traveller and won't hire me and the welfare payment percentage in the traveller community is wrong I would guess the about 30% of the traveller community is on social welfare by choice or bad luck I have yet to find a traveller that don't actually try to actively find work

irish2021traveller · 26-09-2021 12:43am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117940066#Comment_117940066

So you obviously have a bone to pick with the community but in you comment about (inhumane treatment of horse) I never had a horse I'm my life so your abit off your mark saying the whole culture is bad. And as I said before the percentage of unemployment in traveller is wrong I would guess it at at least 30% unemployed and that's your government and revenue **** up if they don't know how to do there job and find the holes in the system being taken advantage of and before you go saying all traveller do is take advantage of the system well you said it your self. there not that educated so they had to learn it somewhere my guess would be from one of your lot. And this almost alien comment about education and job nonsense. I have worked strait out of school and got my leaving cert to boot there was 9 travellers in my class include myself we all did are leaving cert 4 in that group are working in the UK. You are being lied to by the government to help you hate a culture you don't even know anything about and your prison comment is strait up bullshit because what ever about the men the traveller woman wouldn't put them selves into a situation that they see jail time so there ya go.

Do me a favor. Can you guys actually do smaller comments with maybe a question so I can actually get your point in it all instead of you throwing media and propaganda garbage at me

lintdrummer · 26-09-2021 12:47am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117940096#Comment_117940096

Fair play to you for taking the more difficult path, we need more travellers like you. There are too many who take the "easy" option of social welfare or crime. Sorry but that's the truth.

It is terrible that you find it difficult to get work because you're a traveller, but it's your own peers you need to blame for that attitude existing. Too many people have had a bad experience with members of the travelling community. My own father owned a country pub years ago. Serving travellers was a no no because it invariably led to trouble. He served a traveller man who was on his own one day who swore he wouldn't cause trouble and was only having one. Within 15 minutes a large group of travellers had taken over the pub. They were all served a couple of drinks before being asked to finish up because things were getting rowdy. After their last drink, they left but not before ripping all the urinals and sinks off the walls in the men's toilets.

I don't envy your position, trying to get an honest job and participate in society but being turned away because of your background. Keep at it though, you'll meet an employer who sees you for the hard worker you are eventually. Lead by example and hopefully more members of the travelling community will change and more members of the settled community will hold less prejudice.

irish2021traveller · 26-09-2021 12:48am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117940058#Comment_117940058

And I don't agree with the hand outs to my community let them earn it or be put on a higher loan based system that can help the community as a whole not the individual and as I said Garda vet them and have personal reference wouldn't hurt to ween out the bad help the good actually be good not just as bad as the guy beside him

irish2021traveller · 26-09-2021 12:54am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117940142#Comment_117940142

I feel very bad for your father and to be fair I would have told the all hit the road or pay a door deposit before entering. But to cover yourself get a traveller young lad that you maybe hire out of school and give him the job to let them know about the deposit situation that way you don't deal with lawsuits and maybe stick him behind the bar so when. He refuses to serve them it's not discrimination it's just one traveller refusing to serve another

irish2021traveller · 26-09-2021 1:01am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117940159#Comment_117940159

This in my experience is useful in the security district and has been used first had by my self and stopped dead in it's track when the trouble makers come out to play and start with the racist card. It doesn't work with me 🙂

[Deleted User] · 26-09-2021 10:26am

This thread is misconceived.

Other citizens from diverse backgrounds successfully avail of the common supports made available by the Nation to them and thrive.

This thread starts out from the position that the Nation is in some way failing Travellers and that hypothesis is completely wrong. Travellers are failing themselves. Travellers are presenting themselves as victims.

dudley72 · 26-09-2021 10:45am

The traveller community don’t think they need “fixing” so not sure why anyone thinks they should try to.

In reality the number are small in ireland, maybe 0.01 of the entire population but they get a huge amount of press.

In terms of crime etc we have a bigger issue in ireland and the lack of of Gardai etc, so maybe instead of trying to “fix” a small segment of the population at the cost of millions we invest that money into stopping crime

BobHopeless · 26-09-2021 10:52am

Pointing out how travellers act isn't hate speech. Maybe we could start with that.

is_that_so · 26-09-2021 10:55am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117940769#Comment_117940769

The total is under 40,000. Think it was 32,000 in the last census.

dudley72 · 26-09-2021 10:58am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117940794#Comment_117940794

And 5m people in ireland, so 0.4 of the population? Based on maths in my head so probably wrong :-)

[Deleted User] · 26-09-2021 10:59am

The biggest mistake ever by a Taoiseach was to stand up in the dail and grant them special status.withdraw that and when they want to act as normal people then bring it in.

[Deleted User] · 26-09-2021 11:51am

Fix the welfare system and it solves both.

Stop incentivising people for having kids by paying them e68 to e75 for each child per week... and stop tying all of this into social housing.

But we wont... and in twenty years the problem is x4 times bigger as today's kids have 5 kids each by then and the problem snowballs.

Mrs OBumble · 26-09-2021 12:03pm

I know a number of traveller families where all the kids go to school.

Fwiw.

touts · 26-09-2021 12:06pm

Best way to solve the traveller problem is to focus on the children and their future.

Make it mandatory that they must attend school. Assign a school place and fine the parents heavily for every day of school missed.

Pay children's allowance in vouchers that can only be spent on things like food and children's clothes etc. That's for everyone not just travellers.

To remove the criminal influence from their lives we must reform the criminal justice system. At the moment lawyers have a financial interest in keeping repeat criminals in the community. Implement a 3 strike rule. After three convictions you get the maximum sentence for the crime without discretion by the judge and without early release. That will benefit not only traveller children but children across the country who will have the single most negative influence in their lives removed.

[Deleted User] · 26-09-2021 12:53pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117940986#Comment_117940986

All your points should be in practice across the board, regardless of age, gender, race or any other tag.

One other family support which should be introduced, is a tax credit for every child. That would be a big help to working parents.

Mad_maxx · 26-09-2021 12:57pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117940725#Comment_117940725

The one defense I would make of travellers is that the people who proport to stand up for them ( beit Pavee Point ,the media, NGO sector) are actually doing travellers a huge disservice

All of the above constantly drill home the message that every problem that bedevils the traveller community is entirely down to naked prejudice on the part of the rest of society.

That in itself sets up division and strips travellers of any power to improve their station, travellers have been designated as inherent powerless victims and worse still , many of the charlatans who created this narrative, would be out of a job were it to change

Travellers must do better but first the public figures who dominate discourse surrounding this issue must stop treating travellers like agency free children who are good for nothing but a trendy protected species project

The J Stands for Jay · 26-09-2021 1:01pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117940027#Comment_117940027

I would be interested to hear your ideas. Clearly what's being done now isn't working

Andrea B. · 26-09-2021 1:10pm

I am going out on a limb, but historically minorities and or emigrant groups have for the most part tried to create a better more prosperous potential for their children by being able to provide them with an education and skill.

That is not happening with the traveller community. The ones that have embraced self improvement (defined as being relative compared to a life of welfare by choice), do not appear to have been motivated or encouraged by family.

Why would you push your children towards a "better life", whereby they would have to work to pay for medical, housing etc?

My parents were of the barefoot to school generation (born 1921). They wanted better for us.

Vicious circle not unique to travellers, where working the welfare system gives a comfortable lifestyle.

joe40 · 26-09-2021 1:16pm

I don't have any answers but I agree getting traveller children to commit to education through all levels is vital.

Good to see a thread here trying to take a pragmatic approach.

We all know what the problems are.

For me proper application of the justice system and education are the main points that need addressed. The events in Tuam were shocking.

bucketybuck · 26-09-2021 1:23pm

How to fix them? Stop enabling them.

Forcibly ensure that they are held to the same laws, rules and regulations as the rest of us, in the long run that will result in a community that actually integrates with the rest of society.

BobHopeless · 26-09-2021 1:25pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117940947#Comment_117940947

As long as there is no alternative to FG/FF we are stuck in that cycle for years to come. Only last week i read they are increasing social welfare in a time when employers are crying out for workers. Unfortunately many Irish people are happy with the status quo so the bottom line is nothing will change.

How to fix the traveller community

Comments