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'Revolving door': Traveller women imprisoned for minor offences such as driving without tax

TRAVELLER WOMEN ARE being imprisoned for minor first time offences such as driving without tax, shoplifting and crimes linked to addiction, an Oireachtas committee has heard.  

Almost one quarter – 25% – of the women at the Dóchas Centre women’s prison were Traveller women, according to a report from the Office of the Inspector of Prisons in 2019, despite adult Travellers making up just 0.5% of the total population of the country. 

Advocates yesterday told TDs and Senators that there is an impression that Traveller women are more likely to receive a prison sentence than a settled person who commits a similar crime.

The Oireachtas Committee on Key Issues Affecting the Traveller Community heard calls  for a move away from custodial sentences for minor offences which are creating “a revolving door” of re-offending among Traveller women.

• Read more here on how you can support a major Noteworthy project to investigate if Travellers experience harsher interactions with the Irish law and prison system.

Anne Costello, coordinator at the Travellers in Prison Initiative (TPI), told the committee that their research found many Traveller women in prison were there for minor crimes.

“It was for driving offences, shoplifting, a number of crimes linked to addiction,” she said.

“Women described their stories of trauma around close family members and suicide, or other bereavements, and then moving on to prescribed drugs, and then that leading into harder drugs. That was the kind of the story that we got generally from the women.”

Maria Joyce, coordinator with the National Traveller Women’s Forum, told the committee that she has worked with women in the Dóchas Centre who are there because they were caught driving without tax or insurance.

“Sometimes these are first offences and some felt a non-custodial sentence would have addressed the level of crime,” she said.

She said there was a strong perception that “it’s one option for a Traveller in the criminal justice system and another outcome for a non-Traveller” for similar crimes and that a different approach involving community supports could help to prevent re-offending. 

Fíona Ní Chinnéide, executive director of the Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT), told the committee that specific data on recidivism among Travellers is not available.

However general data shows “people sentenced to prison for between three and six months had the highest probability of re-offending within one year of release”.

“The highest rates of early re-offending are among those in prison for short sentences, which by definition are less serious offences,” she said.

Speakers at the committee meeting today also raised concerns about the impact on Traveller children of having a parent in prison.

“People say ‘expose young people to prison and they won’t go there’, but so many Travellers in prison have been to prison to visit their fathers and now they’re in prison,” Costello said.

“That doesn’t work, with that inter-generational [factor] you’re much more likely to end up in prison if your parents have been in prison.

Maria Joyce said leaving their families and their children is a significant issue for Traveller women in prison and can create problems with access on their release.

“When you have children who may already be in care, there are additional barriers that will be created on their [the women's] release in trying to engage with their children, or if they’ve gone into care as a direct result of them going into prison,” she explained. “It’s not about ensuring the care of children but it is about ensuring contact with parents.”

Ní Chinnéide of the IPRT said the imprisonment of a parent should not be seen as “a predictor” of a child’s outcome as they will all have different responses to these types of situations.

What is common, she said, is their “experience of trauma, of separation, stigma, poverty”. Ní Chinnéide added: “We need to support those children, support them to have better outcomes in the long run.”

The committee was covered as part of an investigation called TOUGH START Noteworthy and The Journal  over the past number of months into supports – and the lack of them – for Traveller children. We can now reveal

• Young Travellers are significantly over-represented in youth detention , making up 26% of Oberstown detainees last year, but just 1.2% of the under-18 population as a whole
• Travellers detained in Oberstown jumped by almost 40% in 2020   
• An Oireachtas committee heard concerns about the impact on children of having a parent in prison , particularly in relation to Traveller mothers who received prison sentences for first-time and minor offences
• Department of Justice officials noted Travellers were “a particular challenge that requires additional action” in regards to the Youth Justice Strategy at a meeting two months prior to its publication, yet there are no Traveller-specific actions in the strategy
• Traveller children reported experiencing discrimination from members of the gardaí and being falsely accused of crimes by members of the public
• Children who spoke to Noteworthy also said they felt fear and anxiety around interactions with gardaí and that they believed people expect them to engage in criminal activity

In part one , Children’s Minister Roderic O’Gorman told Noteworthy that “there’s ingrained institutional racism against the Traveller community” and part two  found Traveller health is ‘not being prioritised’ despite ‘shocking’ outcomes for children.  Part three revealed that ‘misuse’ of reduced school days is leaving a generation of Traveller children ‘lost’.

Increase of young Travellers in detention

There is already a disproportionate number of young Travellers in detention in Ireland and this jumped by almost 40% in 2020. 

Young people under 18 who have been sentenced or remanded by the Irish courts system are detained in Oberstown Children Detention Campus in north county Dublin. The majority detained there are boys, with only three girls (2.5%) detained last year. 

There were 24 young Travellers in Oberstown  in 2019  which made up 19% of the total number of young people detailed there. However, this increased to 32 in 2020 or 26% of the total, according to  Oberstown’s annual report . 

This is also an increase on figures reported by the snapshot reports – published with figures from the first quarter of  2017 ,  2018  and  2019 . These reported young Travellers made up 23%, 22% and 19% of the population during these respective quarters.

This is significantly higher than it should be in proportion to the number of Travellers under 18, making up just 1.2% of the general population in the last Census in 2016. 

This is also an over-representation of Travellers in the adult prison population, where it was estimated in 2017 by the Irish Prison Service and the Probation Service that Travellers accounted for 10% of the male and 22% of the female prison population. 

Speaking at the Joint Oireachtas Committee, Mark Wilson, director of the Probation Service, said that Travellers represent 11.3% of people seen by the Probation Service which he said were the latest ethnicity statistics available.

Fergal Black, Director of Care and Rehabilitation in the Irish Prison Service, gave the committee figures from the last ethnicity survey. He reported that Castlerea Prison in Co Roscommon had 95 people who identified as Travellers – 31% of that prison’s population, “which is an indictment of the over-representation [of Travellers] in our criminal justice system”.

Though already high, these prison system figures are most likely an under-representation “due to the lack of consistent and accurate data collection” – including ethnicity – by the Irish Prison Services, according to Pavee Point. 

Representatives from both the Irish Prison Service and the Probation Service mentioned work to improve on the existing efforts at the Joint Oireachtas Committee, with Wilson stating that they have worked extensively with the Travellers in Prison Initiative “in the area of ethnic data collection” to its improve accuracy and consistency.

Experts have said a number of factors contribute to the over-representation of the Traveller community in the criminal justice system, besides the possibility of overly-punitive sentencing, including poverty, exclusion, discrimination, a lack of access to housing and educational disadvantages. These issues start for Travellers at a very early age, they said, and early intervention is needed to prevent the ongoing cycle.

A poor relationship and lack of trust between Travellers – including children – and those working in the criminal justice system is also a factor. 

‘They dislike us, I don’t know why’

Traveller children, aged 12-14, who spoke to Noteworthy reported feeling fear around interactions with gardaí and that they believe gardaí assume they will do something criminal. 

When asked what they believe gardaí think about Travellers, three of the children said “bad” at the same time.

“They dislike us, I don’t know why,” one of the girls said.

“I think most people expect us to do bad things, or make us out as bad people,” another girl said.

“The guards think, if someone robbed something, most likely it’s Travellers,” another told us. 

The children also gave several examples of being wrongfully accused of shoplifting by security guards. One boy said:

One of the girls said she was with her mother at a shop when two gardaí stopped them and asked them to empty their pockets.

“It was scary,” she said. “There was nothing in our pockets. I started crying.”

She said they apologised after she became upset.

All of the children said they were afraid of gardaí and that they also notice their parents’ anxiety when they see gardaí.

“My daddy, if we’re driving past guards, he’ll turn around really quick even though we all have our belts on and he’ll say ‘put on your belts in case the guards pull us over’,” one of the boys told us.

A community worker with the group said two gardaí had come to give a talk to the children at their community centre and this had been a positive experience. However she said one of these gardaí was later called to an incident at the halting site and when the children recognised him and tried to talk to him, he “ignored them”.

The only positive example they could think of came from one of the boys, who said if he sees a garda he sometimes give them a thumbs up and “they would actually do it back 99.9% of the time”.

When asked whether they felt like the gardaí would help them if something bad happened to them or their families all of the children in the group replied “no”. They would be reluctant to even call for help, they said.

“People can be arguing and if anyone gets physical you need to call the guards so they don’t hurt each other very badly,” one girl said. “And sometimes they don’t come at all until the whole thing’s over and everyone’s back in their houses. They take their time coming anyways.”

John Paul Collins, drug and alcohol community development worker at Pavee Point, said the negative relationship between Travellers and gardaí “starts at a very young age”. 

“It has always been a negative relationship with guards back to the very start, in terms of them coming on site and incidents being overpoliced, being heavy-handed,” he said.

“It’s usually the case that they’d come in fives or tens, cars and vans, sometimes dressed in riot gear and that’s the sort of stuff young kids are seeing. That puts a block straight away to develop any relationship.

Kids are around and listening and absorbing what the guards say and what their parents and other Travellers say. What the children are seeing is only negative behaviour, the only time they see a guard on site is when incidents happen, they’re not seeing a community guard on site trying to build relationships with them.

As mentioned by the children who spoke to Noteworthy , Collins said the response can be at the other end of the spectrum with gardaí arriving late or not at all when they are called to an incident at a halting site.

An Garda Síochána has made a number of policy and resourcing changes in recent years to ensure a more sensitive and considered approach to violence against women in the home. However Collins said there is “no notion of this” in responses to domestic violence calls from the Traveller community.

He said there is a genuine fear that the gardaí will “make things worse”.

“Unfortunately that has been the experience, they come in all booted up and don’t handle the situation in a positive way,” he said.

“Some have even said at incidents that it’s just part of our culture – violence and domestic violence. It’s ridiculous for someone in that profession to say something like that.”

‘Housing, poverty, mental health and trauma’

Speaking to the Oireachtas committee yesterday, Anne Costello of TPI said some of the causes of Travellers’ over-representation in prison are historic.

International research on minority ethnic groups, she said, identified causes such as the disruption of culture and traditions and a denial of identity as well as the process of stripping minorities of land, culture, language, laws and customs.

In Ireland these issues date back to the report of the Commission on Itinerancy in 1963 which stated that there was a “problem of the presence of itinerants in considerable numbers”. This report stated that “itinerants as a class would disappear within a generation”.

Since then, there have been many laws and policies introduced, which have had a negative impact on Travellers’ way of life and legitimate ways to make a living. And it wasn’t until 2017 that the government formally recognised travellers as an ethnic minority.

Costello also spoke of other causes such as the effects of poverty and exclusion, noting that the unemployment rate among Travellers is 80%, and 39% of Travellers are homeless or living in very overcrowded conditions

Noteworthy has extensively covered the stark outcomes facing Travellers children in health and education in the other parts of this investigative series – and will be examining housing next week. 

Women, she said, face particular issues:

“Before imprisonment they have issues with housing, poverty, mental health and trauma. We did some research with Traveller women in prison and they all faced those issues.”

Discrimination, both by State services and in the criminal justice system, is also contributing to the issue, Costello told the committee.

An ESRI report in 2017 found that Travellers are over 22 times more likely to experience discrimination in access to private services than white settled people.

An internal garda survey conducted between 2012 and 2014 found not one frontline garda had a favourable view of the Traveller community.

Discrimination was also evident among garda ethnic liaison officers – now known as diversity officers – with just 32% saying they had a good opinion of Travellers after joining the force. Before joining, 45% of these ethnic liaison officers said they had a poor or very poor opinion of the community.

An Garda Síochána did not respond to a number of questions from Noteworthy on specific measures in the Garda Youth Diversion Programme targeted at young Travellers, allegations of over-policing, and cultural awareness training provided to gardaí.

‘More work to do to prevent discrimination’

For advocates, one solution to these high detention rates in young Travellers was the State’s Youth Justice Strategy. In their submission as part of consultation last year, Pavee Point wrote that the strategy “should seek to support the families of Travellers and Roma to divert young people away from crime”. It continued:  

“Research shows strong links between youth offending and child and family welfare issues and therefore offending behaviour should not be considered in isolation.” 

Their submission called on “specific measures and initiatives for Travellers and Roma” to be included. It also quoted a European Commission Assessment of Ireland in 2016 that stated:

Antiracism and cultural competency training was one action Pavee Point called for in their submission, according to Corrine Doyle, Drug and Alcohol Programme Coordinator at Pavee Point. This is important “for people working with Travellers in diversion programmes or detention centres so they have an understanding of Traveller culture and barriers faced and the additional work needed”.  

In his opening statement yesterday, Fergal Black of the Irish Prison Service told the Joint Committee of “the introduction of awareness training for new prison staff on the issues arising for Travellers and areas of discrimination” over the past six years through the prison service’s partnership with the Travellers in Prison Initiative.

In the youth justice system, Pavee Point has completed some information sessions at Oberstown but Doyle said the organisation was given no additional resources for this. Given the high turnover of both staff and residents at the centre, she said this type of information programme would have to operate on a more regular basis to be effective.

“Challenging some of the bias and even unconscious bias and trying to work through that, that can’t just be done in information sessions.” 

John Paul Collins, the community development worker, said that their organisation has also delivered “anti racism and cultural competency training to garda recruits” over the years.

He said that Pavee Point has had ongoing discussions with the garda training college at Templemore and with senior gardaí, including the current Commissioner, and has stressed the need for this training to be a credited module for recruits, rather than a once-off discussion.

They should be marked on it and it should be delivered either by Traveller organisations or we’d do a training course for senior gardai to deliver it. A once-off [class] for 250 recruits doesn’t do it.

He said this type of training should be part of continuous professional development for gardaí, particularly when it comes to promotions.

Seamus Beirne, Equality, Inclusion and Diversity Lead at the Irish Prison Service, told the committee that measuring the impact of this training “can be difficult”. He added they intend to conduct a survey and monitor attitudes to help measure the impact, though this was delayed due to Covid. He added:

“There is a certain culture in Ireland, and a prison is a microcosm of the country. So, changing a culture takes a while.”

On this, Fergal Black said: “We have more work to do to prevent discrimination – that’s the honest answer.”

On training, the Travellers in Prison Initiative’s Costello concluded at the committee that it “works with some people” and they had success with probation staff. She continued:

“With other staff and other organisations, where you’ve got deeply embedded racist attitudes, the only response is zero tolerance. The prison is a very hierarchical organisation – I think it needs to come from the very top – that there will be consequences for racist behaviour. And I think that’s where you’ll see real change.”

Department aware of ‘additional action’ required

Noteworthy  sought correspondence and memos within the Department of Justice that mentioned Travellers in relation to the Youth Justice Strategy in the months leading up to its publication in April.

Just five records were found through the freedom of information (FOI) request, but from these it is clear that DOJ officials knew of the extra challenges facing young Travellers.  

In February 2021, at a meeting and presentation between DOJ officials and a person from the School of Law in UL, it was noted that “the Youth Justice Strategy will ensure a greater focus on such groups (Traveller, Roma and migrant groups), with Travellers being a particular challenge that requires additional action”.  

Yet, when the Youth Justice Strategy was published two months later, Travellers only received two mentions – both alongside a number of other groups  – and there were no Traveller-specific actions listed. 

In the ‘Disadvantage and Diversity’ section, Travellers were included in a wide-ranging group that the strategy emphasised “the need for State and State-funded services to engage effectively with”. This is the list as it is written:  

Poverty, Children and Young People in State Care, Travellers and other Ethnic Communities, Mental Health, Neuro-Diversity, Homelessness, Children of Prisoners, Childhood Trauma, Coercive Control, Addiction, Gender Differences, Disability, Differences in Maturity and Individual Learning abilities.

The only action Travellers are mentioned in, is in relation to the continued development of Garda Youth Diversion Projects, with an action to ensure these projects “reach all relevant young people in the community, including those from minority and hard-to-reach groups (such as young people of migrant background, Traveller and Roma communities)”. 

Strategy ‘quite weak in the context of Travellers’

Pavee Point’s Doyle said it was “frustrating” that the Youth Justice Strategy was “quite weak in the context of Travellers” as it did not include any initiatives targeted specifically at Travellers.  

She said that the organisation spent time on a detailed submission that called for targeted initiatives and said there is “nothing specific” in the strategy “for young Travellers, to address reoffending”. 

In prisons, she said there are Traveller liaison officers and other Traveller-targeted initiatives but this is not happening in youth detention. 

“It’s seen as a one-size-fits-all,” she said, and added that Travellers often do not engage with mainstream services and programmes due to a lack of trust.  

“There are community programmes and youth services and garda youth diversion projects but within those there needs to be Traveller specific initiatives.”

Collins said Pavee Point does not want to see a segregation of services, but he said Traveller-specific initiatives should be put in place to act as “a bridge into mainstream services”. He said this would help to address poor engagement with general youth services and programmes. 

When asked why the DOJ did not include Traveller-specific actions, a spokesperson told Noteworthy that there is a specific action within the strategy “to ensure that the existing network of  Youth Diversion Projects reach all relevant young people in the community”. They added: 

There is a specific focus on minority and hard-to-reach groups including those from the Traveller Community.

The spokesperson said that “as part of a public consultation process, a number of submissions from individuals and groups, including from representatives of the Traveller Community, were received” which shaped its content. 

The team also asked if the DOJ has plans for any Traveller-specific youth justice programmes. The spokesperson said that “the immediate priority within the Strategy is the enhancement of engagement with children and young people who are most at risk of involvement in criminal activity, principally through strengthening the services available through the existing network of 105 Youth Diversion Projects.”

Youth Diversion Projects received an extra €6.7m in Budget 2022. The DOJ stated that these services will be enhanced to provide early intervention and engagement with more challenging children and young people as well as other supports. 

Pavee Point is one of the organisations to be invited to attend the Youth Justice Advisory Group, which according to one of the DOJ emails Noteworthy received through FOI “makes up part of the oversight structures” for the new strategy. The email stated:  

“The Advisory Group will include a range of state, community and expert stakeholders similar to the steering Group which has informed the development of the Strategy.” 

Other groups that the DOJ included in their list in this email were the Children’s Rights Alliance, Irish Penal Reform Trust, National Disability Authority and a representative from the Drugs Task Force.  

Doyle welcomed the fact that Pavee Point had been invited onto this group, as she is hopeful that they can lobby for some of the initiatives they suggested in their submission. However the lack of commitments in the strategy to Traveller-targeted programmes mean they will be “competing with other groups” within the wider ‘migrant and hard to reach’ group cited in the strategy. 

“It doesn’t mean these things won’t be brought in under other actions but it does dilute Traveller actions.” 

Noteworthy would like to take an in-depth look at the experience of Travellers in the wider justice system as part of our  BLIND JUSTICE project – currently over 70% funded. Find out how you can  help get it over the line >>

This article is part of our  TOUGH START  investigation which is being led  by  Maria Delaney  of Noteworthy and  Michelle Hennessy  of The Journal. 

This Noteworthy investigation was done in collaboration with The Journal. It was funded by you, our readers, with support from The Journal as well as the Noteworthy  general fund  to cover additional costs.  

You can support our work by submitting  an idea , funding for a particular  proposal  or setting up a monthly contribution to our general investigative fund  HERE>>

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Travellers in the Irish Prison System: A qualitative study

19th May 2014

Travellers in the Irish Prison System: A qualitative study is a 76-page qualitative research report, which includes interviews with 10 former prisoners (5 female, 5 male).

Download the report here .

Download appendices C and D here .

The findings in the report are illustrated with direct quotes, which detail:

• Issues facing Travellers while they are in prison: Discrimination from other prisoners and from staff / literacy problems / separation from family / conflict in prison / mental health problems in prison / illicit drug use in prison

Issues facing Travellers leaving prison: Estrangement and isolation / returning to a violent relationship / difficulties finding somewhere to live

Supports and coping strategies in prison: Support from other prisoners / ritual and filling time / support from staff

The Bigger Picture: Discrimination in daily life / marginalisation and offending behaviour / drug dependence and offending behaviour / discrimination in the criminal justice system / external pressures on Traveller culture

Review of the Literature, Ways Forward and Recommendations

Six key recommendations included in the report are:

Recommendation 1: Develop a strategy for Travellers in the criminal justice system to: address discrimination; identify proactive steps to ensure that Travellers have equal and culturally appropriate access to education while in prison; and ensure equitable access to relevant supports for Travellers on leaving prison.

Recommendation 2: Develop an equality policy for the Irish prison system, which sets out how the Irish Prison Service will ensure that all prisoners receive equal treatment and enjoy equal rights.

Recommendation 3: Conduct effective ethnic monitoring; analyse, and publish the results on a regular basis; and addressing any unjustifiable disproportional outcomes between Travellers and other prisoners.

Recommendation 4: Establish Traveller groups in prisons to ensure that Travellers’ needs are identified and brought to the attention of prison staff; the involvement of community-based Traveller organisations is key.

Recommendation 5: Provide targeted reintegration support to Travellers on release from prison, and work with Traveller communities to address factors such as stigma surrounding drug use and offending behaviour. For those who cannot return to their family, targeted support measures should exist to enable them to access secure accommodation and employment. 

Recommendation 6: Further research is required to fully explore the relationship between social disadvantage, marginalisation and offending behaviour among Travellers.

IPRT is very grateful to the St Stephen’s Green Trust for supporting this research project.

Members of the research group which supported the study were: Seamus Taylor, Lecturer in Applied Social Studies, NUI Maynooth; Katayoun Bahramian, Co-ordinator and John Paul Collins, Community Development Worker, Pavee Point Traveller and Roma Centre; Susan Fay, Managing Solicitor of the Irish Traveller Movement Independent Law Centre; and Maria Joyce, Co-ordinator of the National Traveller Women’s Forum.

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Working Notes 93: Unheard Voices: Irish Travellers and the Struggle for Social Justice

Irish travellers and prison: discrimination, education, and lateral violence.

Posted on September 18, 2023 by Martina Madden - Education   Penal Reform   Poverty & Inequality  

by Martina Madden

Martina Madden is Communications and Social Policy Advocate of the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice.

INTRODUCTION

Irish Travellers are underrepresented in all of the categories we associate with status and success in our society. They are barely visible in positions of power, (despite the appointment of Eileen Flynn, an Irish Traveller, to the Seanad in 2020 [1] ) and their education rates are dismally low, with the majority of Traveller men having just received primary-level schooling. [2]

One area where they are overrepresented is in our prisons. Travellers comprise less than 0.7 per cent of the population of the Republic of Ireland but make up 10 per cent of the general prison population and 15 per cent of the female prisoner population. [3] We, as a society, should be deeply concerned about these figures, and about the contributory factors involved.

The framing of Travellers as disruptive criminals, in our media and in our collective consciousness provides us with an excuse to justify their exclusion from society and the discrimination they endure. It scapegoats a vulnerable group who are trying to survive in a system where the odds are stacked against them and blames the entirety of that cohort for the actions of a few. When we examine the historical and existing barriers to full participation in society that exist for Travellers and the injustice of their exclusion, it is our mainstream, settled, majority population that emerges as culpable of wrongdoing, which is resulting in grievous harms being inflicted on the lives of members of the Traveller community.

A COMMUNITY COMING UNDONE

Travellers are loose threads in the fabric of Irish society. They exist at the edges rather than being interwoven into the whole. This is often excused by settled people as being their choice, and even their fault. We have all heard about, and read about in the media, Travellers’ propensity to crime and disruption. But what we don’t hear about is Travellers’ struggles to exist and find their place in a society that was designed for a settled lifestyle. We also don’t hear much about the loss of their unique culture and heritage, including traditional modes of making a living.

The unpalatable fact, which many of us in mainstream society struggle to accept, is that Travellers are the victims of grave systemic injustices, and the effects of these prevail. Decades of institutional discrimination, and social exclusion, have resulted in disproportionately high rates of poverty, unemployment, homelessness and ill health (both physical and mental), as well as low levels of educational achievement. The experience of Irish Travellers starkly contrasts with the broader narrative of Irish prosperity and social progression since Independence in 1922, and they remain one of the most socially and economically disadvantaged groups in Ireland. The impact of this on their lives is stark: suicide rates among this community are six times higher than in the general population and their life expectancy remains much lower. [4]

NARRATIVES OF TWO TRAVELLER MEN

For this essay I spoke to two Traveller men in their 40s, Patrick* and William*, both of whom were sent to prison in their twenties. They both have overcome significant challenges and today have rewarding careers in the social care sector, where they provide guidance and support to young Traveller men. Their personal narratives help to illuminate the level of injustice this group faces, how high the barriers to inclusion in our society are, and the impossibility – as a member of a marginalised group – of breaching them, without adequate and sustained assistance. The overrepresentation of Travellers in our prison and crime statistics indicate an issue that is broader and more complex than it is represented by our media and by the establishment. It reveals the personal and societal impact of poverty and exclusion and the inherent injustice in our policing [5] and penal system, [6] as well as a community that is visibly in need of understanding and support.

ETHNIC IDENTITY, DISCRIMINATION AND LOSS OF LIFESTYLE

Irish Travellers were formally recognised as a distinct ethnic group by the State in March 2017. [7]   This was the result of years of campaigning for their unique cultural identity to be acknowledged and was welcomed by Traveller advocacy groups. It was an event that had huge symbolic importance, but it did little to reverse the harms that had been done before.

The Irish State’s discrimination against Travellers is longstanding. The Commission on Itinerancy Report 1963, identified “the problem arising from the presence in the country of itinerants” [as Travellers were then called]. It not only failed to acknowledge Traveller ethnicity and nomadism but threatened to assimilate and absorb them into wider society as the “final solution” to everyone’s problems. This inherently racist and misguided strategy failed on many counts but it provided a precedent that “established policy relating to Travellers for the next twenty years”. This included criminalising their nomadic way of life (by outlawing the ability to park their trailers on agricultural land), and began a process of legitimising hostility and discrimination against Travellers from the settled community. [8]

Travellers have for centuries supported themselves through their traditional occupations of tin smithing, seasonal agricultural work, and horse trading. But the rapid modernisation and urbanisation of Ireland, with its shift towards a service-based, high-tech economy has made many of these occupations obsolete. The need for a formal education to access opportunities in this modern system has been a challenge for Travellers, whose rates of literacy and educational attainment are low, in part due to a peripatetic lifestyle and their experience of prejudice and bullying in the school system. Entrenched social prejudice towards them effectively excludes Travellers from obtaining any job in the mainstream workforce, leaving them disproportionately affected by unemployment, poverty, mental health issues and homelessness.

PATRICK’S NARRATIVE

Patrick is a 40-year-old Traveller man who was born in Ireland but lived with his family in England until his mid-teens, when he left school. He showed promise as a boxer, making it to the all-Ireland finals twice, at age 17 and 18. Unfortunately he did not win the title at either match. A loss at this level was hard on his self-esteem, which was already shaky. Leaving school early had left him with no qualifications. This, and the blatant discrimination he experienced from employers who did not want a Traveller working for them, made finding a job impossible. After a row with his mother, Patrick moved to a halting site where he began to hang out with other young men who were also unemployed, bored and disillusioned by the discrimination they endured and the social inequality they witnessed. He began to take drugs and to get involved in crime. The breakup of his marriage which resulted in his wife and children moving to England exacerbated his drug use and depression. In and out of prison, he was at a loss to find a way to move forward and change his life. Thanks to his own determination, and to organisations that provided him with the mental health and addiction supports as well as secure housing, he is now about to complete a BA in Community Youth Work and is hoping that his story will be an inspiration for other young Travellers who are struggling. [9]

WILLIAM’S NARRATIVE

William is a Traveller in his late 30s. His family moved between Ireland and the UK for most of his childhood and he continued to move between both places in early adulthood. He left school at 11 without being able to read or write, only much later being diagnosed as dyslexic. He began to earn money by washing car windows at traffic lights and moved onto trading from stalls on the street, but was in trouble with the police for minor offences. In his late teens he got pulled into a long-standing family feud which escalated over a period of years into serious violence, which resulted in him being imprisoned for 14 years. While imprisoned, he learned to read and write. In addition to his determination to learn, William also volunteered for the Samaritans, providing a listening ear to other prisoners. He also became involved in the Red Cross and got a job in the mess kitchen as a chef. William is grateful to the teachers in Mountjoy for their encouragement and support. Since leaving prison he has found employment providing support for younger Travellers, something that he could not have done without an education. [10]

EDUCATION AND TRAVELLERS

Higher education is a prerequisite for almost every job these days. Applicants are expected to have a Leaving Certificate at least, and increasingly to have a degree, even if its subject matter does not relate to the job itself. This is challenging for the Traveller population, who often leave school early. This can be because the family is moving but often it is because of bullying and exclusion within the school system. The bullying can come from teachers, or from other students. Both men I spoke to for this essay had their own experiences with this.

William recounted his experience of not being supported at school:

“Well, I never really got in to school. I was, was always getting suspended. Like I was dyslexic. So I spent most of my time in Mr Golden’s office looking at a wall [laughs] for obviously disrupting class and things like that. Which I did because I didn’t know what I was doing. I hadn’t got a clue and I couldn’t read and write. And then you had kids… kind of… you had a bit of racism and [in England] it wasn’t as bad as here, but there was still some.” [11]

Patrick agreed that racism against Travellers was not as bad in English schools as in Ireland; his schooling ended when the family moved back to Ireland in his early teens. He explained that one often overlooked reason why Traveller children leave school early is that their parents are afraid that they are being treated as badly as they were during their own schooldays.

“Their mothers probably know what’s going on in the schools and they know that they’re not getting cared for. They probably remember back when they were going to school, the mothers, and thinking what it was like for them … And they’re thinking … my daughter’s better off out of there now. Maybe … she’s getting bullied in the class, so maybe we’re better off taking her out.” [12]

Unfortunately, those mothers are probably right. In Irish schools, shunning Travellers is not something that is consigned to the past. William said of his 15-year-old daughter:

“My daughter’s friends in the school are all foreign. The foreign girls have no problem talking to her … but the Irish girls mostly don’t talk to her. So, she doesn’t make much of an effort herself. She’ll admit that’s because she just has that fear. She expects it. You know what I mean?” [13]

The phenomenon of early school-leaving affects the treatment of Travellers while they are in school. Patrick said: “The teachers don’t really give a hundred percent to Travellers because they assume that Travellers are going to leave school early, because that’s the history of Travellers … So the teachers don’t really put a lot of attention into them.” [14]

This is an injustice for every Traveller child, but it is particularly hard on the ones who need additional supports, as William did. Children who struggle in to learn foundational skills of reading and writing in primary education, are at a huge disadvantage in secondary school. William reports that in his work as he hears of many Traveller children who are “completely lost”. This is an experience that resonates with him as it is what he went through himself as a dyslexic child. [15]

EMPLOYMENT AND TRAVELLERS

The lack of qualifications or higher education among Travellers is an obvious disadvantage in the job market. But they also face discrimination when seeking employment, which is unrelated to their education levels. Patrick recalls going for several jobs in his youth, only to be rebuffed when he arrived at the interview. He said “You could tell by them when you’d walk in. You’d know. You’re a Traveller… you’re not getting a job. [And you would be] right about it. So when you’re going through that for a while, you just, you know… [give up], and then you’re just at home.” [16]

Patrick reflected on how the lack of a job or anything meaningful to do affected his confidence and left him at a loose end and made it extremely difficult to keep his drinking and drug-taking under control. He said: “[E]ven when you’d want to stop taking, when you’d want to stop drinking and when you’d take a break, there’d be absolutely nothing else to do. There was no work. There’s no other options. I mean, I could be bored. You’d be bored … Because there’s not… there was nothing to do, you know?” [17]

This lack of direction, as well as a sense of hopelessness about his own options led him down a path of joining in with others from the site he lived on in petty theft and burglary. “There doesn’t seem to be any kind of… nothing going forward for you. No development in your life. You’re looking at fellows coming in the odd time driving a really nice car, a really nice van. And you want to get that van, you know, and you say, how am I going to, get money? How am I going to survive? Like how am I going to improve my life? You know? So a few of my cousins broke off, going off robbing and that, and they were coming back sometimes with some money and they driving nice cars and… So I just decided, I wouldn’t mind a bit of that as well, you know?” [18]

It shouldn’t come as a shock that when we as a society treat people as if they don’t matter and consign them to lives of poverty and exclusion, they sometimes react by taking something from us. If the game is rigged anyway, there’s little to gain by playing by the rules. But despite the initial rewards, Patrick’s new direction didn’t end well for him and he ended up in and out of prison.

His addictions spiralled out of control too when, a few years later, his marriage broke up and his wife left Ireland for the UK, taking their children with her. He said: “I’d follow her back and forth a few times, but it wasn’t working out. And I, I kept coming back on my own and then when I come back I’m really depressed, you know. And then I started taking prescription tablets and I ended up getting strung out on them.” [19]

As someone who couldn’t read or write, it was difficult for William to find a regular job, but he tried to earn a living using his wits. He washed car windows at traffic lights and was a street trader. He recalls police discrimination against Travellers and how he – like other Travellers – was singled out by the police/Gardaí for checks on his vehicle, to be fingerprinted (illegally) and to be questioned about his actions while just going about his day.

His work with Traveller youth has shown him that it is still very difficult for a Traveller to find a job in Ireland today:

“What I’m hearing back from these groups I’m working with discrimination is the biggest thing. A little bit less for the young group in Dublin seemingly, compared to everyone else. But in the smaller towns [they] can’t get jobs… all jobs they’re getting is cleaning jobs or if they’re hiding their identity. And then when they’re hiding it, they hear all this negative stuff about Travellers. Especially if they’re working in public, like say public service shops or things like that. So they might not realise they’re Traveller, but if they’ve a kind of distinctive Traveller name…  they’re in a bit more trouble.” [20]

LATERAL VIOLENCE AND TRAVELLERS

The sociological concept of lateral violence refers to acts of aggression, harassment, or harm inflicted by members of a marginalised or oppressed group on each other, rather than on their oppressors. It has been observed and studied in various contexts, including among indigenous communities including the Aboriginal people of Australia, as well as other racial and ethnic minorities and in certain socioeconomic groups. [21]

Lateral violence, in the context of Irish Travellers, can be viewed as a manifestation of the trauma experienced as a result of losing their traditional identity and way of life, as well as their alienation from mainstream society. The frustration, anger, and despair that arise from being oppressed are redirected towards peers or individuals within their own community, rather than towards the larger systems or structures of power that are the sources of oppression, e.g. the government, the education system, the Gardaí and the criminal justice system.

William said of the lateral violence theory: “I think it’s very relevant to Travellers. So like the group who’s kind of marginalised and isolated from the rest of society and then I think obviously they internalised that anger and that kind of feud with each other.” [22]

He also demonstrated how the laws which made nomadism illegal as well as the futility of depending on the Gardaí for justice contribute to the problem:   “I think as well since Travellers are not allowed to move around the way they used to. So if you were on the receiving end of something, you could move away and you could, that’s a good place. Try and escape and now you can’t… Because Guards don’t do nothing. Guards will tear you out of your car for having no insurance, no license or that. But if your house is smashed up or your car smashed up or some of your family’s being caught up, what did you do? They’re more interested. What did you do to escalate? What did you do? Didn’t happen for nothing. So if you’re a victim of crime, they want to know what you’ve done to provoke that aside. That’s more their concern.” [23]

The intransigence of the Gardaí as well as a lack of faith in fair treatment by the wider justice system make it feel inevitable that Travellers will be forced to take matters into their own hands, despite a reluctance to do so. William said: “… sometimes people in in families, it just might be totally against their nature to be get involved in violence or be involved in that type of thing. But they can’t get away from it because they feel like they’ve nowhere to turn. Do you know what I mean?” He added that it can be a “no win” situation where a refusal to be involved in defending your own family can leave you isolated and vulnerable. [24]

It should be noted that violence in the Traveller community is an issue that receives a disproportionate amount of media attention, and is not typical of the vast majority of Travellers. William was clear that although the circumstances surrounding him in his youth were not great, he takes responsibility for his actions. What we are exploring here are the reasons why it occurs. Addressing the systemic oppression that Travellers experience, as well as improving access to education, health supports, and the restoration of their cultural identity and pride would help to provide the community with the tools needed to foster unity.

SUPPORT SYSTEMS IN AND AFTER PRISON – HOUSING AND EDUCATION

Both Patrick and William have been through a lot, not least by enduring imprisonment, but their stories are ones with happy endings. They are both employed in meaningful jobs, helping to create a better future for younger Travellers and are living stable fulfilling lives. But their success is not just due to their own determination and hard work. It is also because of the supports they received along the way – supports that they should have had access to in the first place.

During William’s time in prison, he finally got the educational support he needed. It’s hard to disagree with his statement:  “It’s sad I had to go to prison to get an education.” Had he been given the help he needed in school, his life might have turned out differently. Patrick also found stability and treatment for addiction after his time in prison, when housing with supports was provided by an NGO, giving him the foundation he needed to rebuild his life. What would his story have been had he been helped to find rewarding employment, somewhere safe to live and mental health supports when he was a teenager?

Of course, no amount of support and guidance can help Travellers to overcome the brutality of living with the stigma and discrimination that is still endemic in Ireland. It is the systems, institutions and society that needs to change, not the groups which are enduring harms because of them. Travellers can and do campaign for these changes but it is the mainstream, settled majority which must take action to implement them.

In scapegoating Irish Travellers for problems which are the effect of decades of exclusion and oppression, we harm ourselves as a society as well as continuing to harm them. The exclusion of this indigenous minority also deprives us of the richness that their unique culture and history can contribute to our collective Irish heritage. The Traveller community provides us with a mirror reflecting back to us what is happening in wider society. The problems of exclusion, inequality and injustice apply to us all, but they are most acute at the margins, where our policymakers and our society has kept Travellers. We must stop blaming the mirror – the Irish Traveller community – for what it shows and start facing the realities we’ve been too willing to ignore.

By embracing diversity, demanding fairness in allocation of resources and tackling the inherent racism against Travellers that we are still far too willing to participate in or turn a blind eye to, we can create an actual inclusive society where everyone can thrive.

*For reasons of privacy William and Patrick have asked that their surnames be omitted.

[1] ‘eileen flynn’ (oireachtas, 29 june 2020), https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/member/eileen-flynn.s.2020-06-29/., [2] ‘census of population 2016 – profile 8 irish travellers, ethnicity and religion’ (central statistics office of ireland, 2016), https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-cp8iter/p8iter/p8itseah/., [3] conor gallager, ‘travellers significantly over-represented in irish prisons, un committee told’, the irish times , accessed 13 may 2023, https://www.irishtimes.com/crime-law/2022/07/05/travellers-significantly-over-represented-in-irish-prisons-un-committee-told/., [4] ‘travellers and suicide: facts and figures’ (pavee point, 2010), https://www.paveepoint.ie/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/suicide-facts-figures-a0.pdf., [5] conor gallager, ‘gardaí have negative view of travellers, survey finds’, the irish times , 20 august 2023, https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/gardai-have-negative-view-of-travellers-survey-finds-1.4334274., [6] michelle hennessy, ‘blind justice: how prison is leaving travellers isolated and traumatised’, the journal , 31 october 2022, https://www.thejournal.ie/blind-justice-prison-5890179-oct2022/#:~:text=once%20in%20prison%2c%20travellers%20have,because%20of%20who%20she%20was., [7] marie o’halloran and michael o’regan, ‘travellers formally recognised as an ethnic minority’, the irish times , 1 march 2017, https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/oireachtas/travellers-formally-recognised-as-an-ethnic-minority-1.2994309., [8] https://itmtrav.ie/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/itm-review-of-the-1963-commission-on-itinerancy.pdf, [9] martina madden, interview with patrick*, in-person, 14 october 2022., [10] martina madden, interview with william*, in-person, 21 october 2022., [11] madden., [12] madden, interview with patrick*., [13] madden, interview with william*., [14] madden, interview with patrick*., [15] madden, interview with william*., [16] madden, interview with patrick*., [17] madden., [18] madden., [19] madden., [20] madden, interview with william*., [21] theoni whyman et al., ‘lateral violence in indigenous peoples’, australian psychologist 56, no. 1 (2021): 1–14, https://doi.org/10.1080/00050067.2021.1893595., [22] madden, interview with william*., [23] madden., [24] madden..

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‘Scam artists to the core': Police warn of transnational contracting scheme

Law enforcement call them a coordinated group of scam artists that are very good at what they do. they're warning homeowners about a transnational criminal organization that's operating a sophisticated contracting scam around massachusetts., by jason solowski and ryan kath • published december 14, 2023 • updated on december 14, 2023 at 9:28 pm.

Massachusetts homeowners are being warned about a transnational criminal organization accused of operating a sophisticated contracting scam.

The scheme involves fake websites, fake reviews, and fake companies.

The NBC10 Boston Investigators have found dozens of victims around the Boston area. Most are out a few thousand dollars. Some have lost much more.

"Nothing looks like it was done professionally," said Dan Kirshenbaum, showing us where concrete splattered all over the side of his building.

Get Boston local news, weather forecasts, lifestyle and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC Boston’s newsletters.

Kirshenbaum hired Joseph Connors in June to repair the front steps of his condominium in Brookline, Massachusetts. He found the business, Greater Boston Masonry, online through positive Google and Yelp reviews.

"They seemed very nice. They seemed like they knew what they were doing. They said they'd been in business for many years," Kirshenbaum said.

But Kirshenbaum said things quickly changed when a laborer got into a heated exchange about not being paid. The incident was captured on the homeowner's doorbell video.

"They were threatening to hit each other with bricks," he said. "It looked pretty scary and it kind of just spiraled from there."

Kirshenbaum suspected he was being scammed and called the Brookline Police Department.

According to the police report, a detective tied Connors to a masonry scam perpetuated by suspected "Irish Travelers" that operate throughout Massachusetts.

The report also said there was an outstanding warrant for Connors out of Malden.

That warrant is tied to what Connors is accused of after Dan and Lydia Cox hired him to replace their front steps back in May.

"They did all of this in a day," said Lydia Cox, pointing to a large trench dug in front of her home in Malden.

The couple said his crew ended up creating $50,000 worth of damage to their fieldstone foundation.

"What these guys had done was dig underneath those loose stones. And then, of course, they fell out. There's nothing to hold them in," Daniel Cox said.

When Malden police arrested Connors, the only form of identification he had was a picture of an Irish driver's license on his phone.

"The license plate on the truck was revoked. The registration on the truck didn't exist. The license plate on the trailer went to somebody else that, I mean, none of the things that they had were real," Cox said.

Shortly after his arrest, the Greater Boston Masonry website went offline, and so did Connors.

More from our "To Catch a Contractor" series

Power in numbers: Customers use social media to hold contractor accountable

Judge denies pool contractor's request to lower bail: ‘Epitome of a flight risk'

‘It Makes Zero Sense': Homeowners Criticize State Fund Meant to Recoup Losses After Shoddy Contractor Work

Malden District Court issued a warrant for his arrest on charges of fraud, defacing/damaging property, and conspiracy. He's now considered a fugitive from justice.

Since our first report in September , the NBC10 Boston Investigators have since connected Connors and his various companies to 11 other fraud victims in the past year by either speaking to the victims or law enforcement.

We've made multiple attempts to contact Connors and his companies by phone and email. The phone numbers provided to police are all disconnected.

A rising trend

"I think in just this month in Massachusetts, I've seen seven come across my desk," said Medford Police Chief Jack Buckley.

Buckley is also president of the Massachusetts Major City Chiefs, which consists of members of the 40 largest police departments in the state. He said the group has been around for years, but its scams have grown more brazen and sophisticated with websites.

However, he said the scheme often starts with something simple, like an unsolicited visit to your home.

"If a contractor knocks on your door and said, 'Hey, I was just in the neighborhood, I have leftover materials,' be on alert. That has generally been a red flag," Buckley said.

Once they are hired, Buckley said they keep finding more issues in need of repair.

"People also inherently want a good deal," Buckley explained. "They get in for a low bid and then just keep asking for more money. It snowballs."

Hughie O'Donoghue and Michael Nevin of Above All Masonry and Construction were ordered to pay $105,000 in restitution after pleading guilty in Concord District Court this month for scamming a 74-year-old Maynard man.

The victim, who asked not to be identified, told us he was grieving the death of his wife and wasn't thinking clearly when O'Donoghue came knocking on his door, offering services to partially repair his roof.

According to the Maynard police report, the town building inspector estimated the cost of services done to his home was, at most, $5,000. The victim ended up paying the workers more than 20 times that amount.

According to the police report, O'Donoghue and Nevin are Irish nationals who came into the United States through Canada "because they are formally known as transnational criminals" and would "probably be denied entry" if they tried to enter through a port like Boston.

The report also says they are known as "Irish Travelers," and the organization has documented cases with law enforcement in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, France and New Zealand.

There was also a warrant for O'Donoghue out of Quincy for allegedly taking $70,000 from an elderly woman and damaging her roof.

A judge required they put a down payment of $30,000 of restitution to the Maynard victim in court in order to be released. Two women associated with Nevin and O'Donoghue paid that in cash while NBC10 Boston waited at the courthouse.

Nevin was released and declined to answer our questions in the parking lot before driving away with the two women. According to court paperwork, there was an "immigration detainer" on O'Donoghue from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, so he remained in custody.

Transnational criminals

Michael Krol, the special-agent-in-charge for Homeland Security Investigations in New England, wouldn't comment on the O'Donoghue or Connors cases, but said this group of Irish nationals is known to federal law enforcement.

"These are scam artists to the core. They will stop at nothing to defraud their victims," he said.

Krol said ICE and HSI have recognized this organized group of men from Ireland and the United Kingdom as "The Traveling Conmen Fraud Group" that operates throughout North America.

"They are driven only by greed and only by money. This is what they do for a living. So being very good at scamming consumers is their job," Krol said.

He said to appear legitimate to consumers, the foreign nationals even go to the trouble of registering their business with state agencies.

Connors had two businesses registered with the Secretary of State's office. Through a records request, we found Connors also had a home improvement contractor's registration that was recently revoked for allegedly taking over $30,000 from an elderly woman in Brockton last year.

Krol said the group transports the money back to the UK using "trade-based laundering." That involves buying expensive jewelry and wearing it on the plane back home.

In hindsight, Kirshenbaum wishes he'd taken a closer look at online reviews for Greater Boston Masonry and Construction, which now appear to be fake.

For instance, he realized all 16 of the five-star reviews were posted in the same month last year, and many of the reviewers are not from the area.

"It wasn't until they left things in an unfinished state that we actually realized what had happened," he said. "When someone comes claiming they can do the work with good reviews and at a reasonable cost, maybe you turn off your scam detectors."

Some of the victims we spoke with never filed police reports because they didn't realize they were part of a larger scam. Law enforcement told us that is essential so they can connect the dots.

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Irish Travellers' Access to Justice

About the irish travellers access to justice project.

The findings of this research are based on a survey conducted with the Traveller population in Ireland about their experiences with the police and courts in this country in the period 2016- 2021. The data was collected July-December 2021. During the course of conducting that survey, we spoke with 1 in every 60 adult Travellers in Ireland. We also conducted 29 interviews with people working in Traveller organisations across Ireland, and focus groups with younger and older generations of Travellers. These data include Travellers from all over Ireland, with Travellers in 25 of the 26 counties included in the survey. The findings from the ITAJ survey closely reflect and expand on the findings of the EU FRA Roma and Travellers in Six Countries (2020). For example, of those Travellers who were stopped by the police in the 12 months before the FRA survey, 58% thought they were stopped because they are a Traveller; of the respondents to our survey who had been stopped by a garda in the five years prior to the ITAJ survey, 59% believed they were stopped because they are a Traveller. The report documents Travellers’ perceptions and experiences of criminal justice institutions as suspects, victims, and those who are the accused in criminal cases. Its key findings reflect a need for radical changes in the way in which criminal justice institutions engage with, perceive, and address Travellers.

This research finds that Travellers’ trust in the Irish criminal justice system is low. Its roots lie in fears of wrongful arrest, excessive use of force, wrongful conviction, disproportionately high sentences, and wrongful imprisonment, that frame the way Travellers engage with and experience the criminal justice system. These fears are well-founded. Our research shows that Travellers are simultaneously overpoliced as suspects and underpoliced as victims, and the overrepresentation of Travellers in prison is long acknowledged. This research, by meticulously documenting Travellers’ own accounts of their experiences with the police and the courts, contributes to explaining this phenomenon. The criminal justice system is built by and for settled people, and Travellers perceive that settled people are seen as more trustworthy than Travellers, believed over Travellers, and protected more than Travellers. These perceptions are reinforced by experiences lived by the individual and shared within the community, through generations. Despite this, Travellers express a commitment to the legal system, and a desire to be protected and acknowledged by that system.

Watch the launch of the Irish Travellers Access to Justice Project

‘Dedicated Traveller strategy’ needed in prisons

Report finds travellers face discrimination, mental health issues and literacy problems.

Pavee Point co-director Martin Collins, researcher Liza Costello and Irish Penal Reform Trust executive director Deirdre Malone at the publication of a report on Travellers in the Irish prison system. Photograph: Derek Speirs

Effective methods of “ethnic monitoring” are required in Irish prisons as part of an overall strategy to aid Travellers break the cycle of offending behavior, a new report published today says.

The study found members of the Travelling community are disproportionately represented in the prison population, a trend typical of countries with indigenous minority groups.

“Travellers in the Irish Prison System: A qualitative study”, published in Dublin, says a dedicated strategy is now required to ensure that Travellers have “equal and culturally-appropriate” access to education while in prison.

The report was compiled by the Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT), a non-governmental organisation campaigning for the rights of those in custody.

It is the first time research into the Traveller experience in prisons has been conducted.

Deirdre Malone, executive director of IPRT said: "One of the key recommendations to emerge from our research is for the Irish Prison Service to develop an equality policy for all minority groups in prison, including Travellers, and to put in place a dedicated strategy for Travellers to ensure that prison does not further compound the social marginalisation that is often at the root of offending behaviour."

Ms Malone said the recent introduction of an “ethnic identifier” to the prison system, a system whereby ethnicity is identified and taken into consideration, was a welcome development.

“We hope that this report will provide an impetus for further progress, and provide a framework for preventing and addressing inequitable treatment of minority groups in prison,” she said.

The IPRT has identified various issues facing Travellers behind bars including discrimination from other prisoners and staff, and mental health issues.

There is also the literacy issue where problems can affect the prison experience by forming a barrier to information and entitlements while in custody.

On release, Travellers are often left isolated from their communities and all of these hardships are underscored by social and educational disadvantage as well as drug and alcohol dependency, it says.

The IPRT believes that by conducting effective ethnic monitoring, any disproportional experiences between Travellers and other inmates can be analysed and addressed.

A dedicated strategy for Travellers in the criminal justice system will simultaneously “address how discrimination can impact Travellers’ experience of the criminal justice system, and to ensure that Travellers have equal and culturally-appropriate access to education while in prison, including literacy education”.

The Irish Prison Service, while not issuing a statement in relation to the report, has said education is available to everybody within the system.

Mark Hilliard

Mark Hilliard is a reporter with The Irish Times

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Irish Travellers and forensic mental health

Affiliation.

• 1 Central Mental Hospital,Dundrum,Dublin 14,Ireland.
• PMID: 30440235
• DOI: 10.1017/S0790966700007102

Objectives: To determine whether Irish Travellers are over-represented amongst transfers from prison to psychiatric hospital. If so, to determine whether this represents an excess over the proportion of Irish Travellers committed to prison.

Method: Irish Travellers admitted to the National Forensic Psychiatry service were identified from a case register over three years 1997-1999. New prison committals were sampled and interviewed as part of the routine committal screening to identify ethnicity.

Results: Irish Travellers accounted for 3.4% of forensic psychiatric admissions compared to 0.38% of the adult population. Travellers transferred from prison to psychiatric hospital had more learning disability and less severe mental illness than other groups, while black and other ethnic minorities had a higher proportion of severe mental illness. Travellers accounted for 6% (95% CI 3-11) of 154 male committals and 4% (95% CI 2-12) of 70 female committals. The estimated annualised prison committal rate was 2.8% (95% CI 2.4-3.3) of all adult male Travellers in Ireland and 1% for female Travellers (95% CI 0.8-1.3). Male Travellers had a relative risk of imprisonment compared to the settled community of 17.4 (95% CI 2.3-131.4), the relative risk for female Travellers was 12.9 (95% CI 1.7-96.7). Imprisoned Travellers had greater rates of drugs and alcohol problems than other prisoners (Relative risk 1.46, 95% C11.11-1.90).

Conclusion: There is gross over-representation of Travellers in forensic psychiatric admissions. This reflects the excess of Travellers amongst prison committals.

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Peabody Awards 2024: ‘Fellow Travelers,’ ‘The Last of Us,’ ‘The Bear,’ and More Are Nominated

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The annual Peabody Awards have unveiled its 2024 nominations.

This year, the Peabody Awards Board of Jurors selected nominees from over 1,100 entries from television, podcasts/radio, and the web in the entertainment, news, documentary, arts, children’s/youth, public service, and multimedia programming categories. Documentary films such as “Judy Blume Forever” and “The Eternal Memory” topped the list of nominees, along with series “The Bear” and “The Last of Us.”

Of the total nominations, PBS received the most (11), followed by HBO/Max (8), Netflix (4), The Washington Post and Amazon MGM Studios (3 each), and FX and Meta (2 each). 

The winners of the 84th annual Peabody Awards will be announced on May 9, 2024 and later celebrated on June 9 at a ceremony at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Los Angeles. This will be Peabody’s first in-person ceremony since 2019, as well as the first time ever that the awards will be given out in Los Angeles.

“We look forward to announcing the winners and celebrating their extraordinary achievements together in Los Angeles,” Jones said. 

The awards ceremony will be produced by Bob Bain Productions. The 84th annual Peabody Awards are sponsored by Delta; Variety will serve as the media partner for the awards ceremony. Peabody is based at the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia. 

“Can You Bring It: Bill T. Jones and D-Man in the Waters”  (World Channel and APT)

Rosalynde LeBlanc and Tom Hurwitz present the history and legacy of choreographer-dancer-director-activist Bill T. Jones’ ballet “D-Man in the Waters,” which emerged as AIDS became a public health crisis. The 1989 ballet manifested the fear, anger, grief, and hope for salvation that Jones and his colleagues experienced as AIDS took the life of his co-founder and partner Arnie Zane, as well as other troupe members. Black Public Media and World Channel 

“Judy Blume Forever”  (Prime Video)

Young adult author Judy Blume has influenced generations of readers. This documentary examines her impact on pop culture as well as the controversies that have erupted over her honesty about puberty and sex, which are newly relevant in an age of increasing book bans across the country. Amazon MGM Studios, Imagine Documentaries 

“Little Richard: I Am Everything”  (CNN Films, MAX and Magnolia Pictures)

Children’s/Youth

“Bluey”  (Disney+)

Bluey, an energetic and imaginative blue heeler puppy, explores the world with her sister Bingo, parents, and friends in this Australian cartoon that has become a worldwide sensation with kids and parents alike.  Ludo Studio, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, BBC Studios

“Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur”  (Disney Channel)

This animated Disney Channel series, based on characters from Marvel Comics, follows Lunella Lafayette, a 13-year-old genius living with her family on the Lower East Side of New York City, and her friend Devil Dinosaur, a red Tyrannosaurus she meets after activating a portal. Flying Bark Productions / Disney Television Animation 

“Summer Camp Island”  (Cartoon Network)

Created by Julia Pott for Cartoon Network,  Summer Camp Island  centers on best friends Oscar (an elephant) and Hedgehog (a hedgehog) at a magical summer camp where the counselors are popular girl witches, horses turn into unicorns, sharks talk, cabins are haunted, and Post-It Notes lead to other dimensions. Cartoon Network Studios 

Entertainment

“The Bear”  (FX)

“Blue Eye Samurai”  (Netflix)

Netflix’s innovative animated series tells of a young warrior driven by revenge against those who made her an outcast in Edo-period Japan, cutting a bloody path toward her destiny, with voices by Maya Erskine, Brenda Song, Kenneth Branagh, and others. A Netflix Series / 3 Arts Entertainment and Blue Spirit Productions 

“Dead Ringers”  (Prime Video)

Amazon’s modern take on David Cronenberg’s 1988 thriller features Rachel Weisz in the dual lead role of Elliot and Beverly Mantle, twin gynecologists unbothered by committing malpractice toward the eventual end of establishing their own birthing center, allowing for commentary on the abysmal state of health care for women in the U.S. Amazon MGM Studios, Annapurna Television 

“The Fall of the House of Usher”  (Netflix)

Mike Flanagan’s gothic horror miniseries for Netflix is loosely based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe, reimagining them to recount the deaths of the six scions of the fictional Usher family, the powerful and corrupt owners of a modern pharmaceutical company. Intrepid Pictures

“Fellow Travelers”  (Showtime)

“Jury Duty”  (Amazon Freevee)

This inventive reality-comedy hybrid goes inside an American jury by following one particular juror, who happens to be the only “real” person in the series. The cast surrounding him is made up of improvisational actors who attempt to push him to his brink, but he always comes out the good guy, demonstrating the positive side of “reality” television as well as good citizens. Amazon MGM Studios, Picrow, The District, Piece of Work Entertainment

“The Last of Us”  (HBO | Max)

This post-apocalyptic drama created by Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann for HBO, is a faithful video game adaptation set 20 years into a pandemic caused by a fungal infection that turns its victims into zombie-like creatures. The story follows Joel (Pedro Pascal), a smuggler who must safely transport Ellie (Bella Ramsey), an immune girl, across the collapsed United States. HBO in association with Sony Pictures Television Studios, PlayStation Productions, Word Games, The Mighty Mint, and Naughty Dog 

“Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Israel-Hamas War”  (HBO | Max)

“Lupin”  (Netflix)

This French mystery thriller series is inspired by the adventures of Arsene Lupin, who was created by French author Maurice Leblanc in 1907. But in this modern version, gentleman thief Assane Diop (Omar Sy), in the mold of Cary Grant in  To Catch a Thief , sets out to avenge his father for an injustice inflicted by a wealthy family. Gaumont Television 

“Poker Face”  (Peacock)

Charlie (Natasha Lyonne) has an extraordinary ability to determine when someone is lying. When she hits the road in her Plymouth Barracuda, every stop brings a new cast of characters and strange crimes she can’t help but investigate and solve, in the comfort-watch tradition of  Columbo  and  Murder, She Wrote . T-Street, MRC Television, Animal Pictures 

“Reality”  (HBO | Max)

This film , starring Sydney Sweeney and directed by Tina Satter, is based on the FBI interrogation transcript of U.S. Air Force veteran Reality Winner, who leaked an intelligence report about Russian interference in the 2016 election to the media. HBO Films presents a Seaview and 2 Sq Ft production in association with Burn These Words, In The Cut Productions, Fit Via Vi, Cinereach, Tanbark Pictures 

Reservation Dogs ’   groundbreaking three-season run comes to an end, exploring the backstories of reservation elders as the four teen characters—Elora (Devery Jacobs), Bear (D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai), Cheese (Lane Factor), and Willie Jack (Paulina Alexis)—give up on their California dreams and consider their futures on and off the reservation. FX Productions 

“Somebody Somewhere”  (HBO | Max)

The touching small-town dramedy’s second season soars to new (and wrenching) heights as the grieving and lost Sam (Bridget Everett) lashes out at best friend Joel (Jeff Hiller) when he finds a new love, while reconciling through the power and love of found family. HBO in association with Duplass Brothers Productions and The Mighty Mint 

Interactive & Immersive

“The Blast Effect”  (The Washington Post)

The Washington Post delves into the AR-15, the weapon of choice for many mass killers, leveraging deep reporting, 3-D animation, and innovative storytelling to illustrate the devastating effect the gun actually has on the human body, something rarely seen by the general public. The Washington Post 

“Defunctland”  (YouTube)

“The Hidden History of Racism in New York City”  (Instagram)

The Hidden History of Racism in New York City  is a six-part micro-documentary series by Kahlil Greene and Ariel Viera touring parts of New York that exist, in part, because of historical incidents of race-based violence, all the while combatting the rampant disinformation on social media that dismisses how race continues to shape our history. Gen Z Historian, Urbanist Live 

“Milwaukee Public Library”  (TikTok, Instagram)

Milwaukee Public Library uses TikTok and Instagram to educate their community on what libraries offer and get young people excited about books at a time when book bans are increasing across the country. Using memes, trending music, and pop culture references, the library’s accounts highlight real library users, librarians, and library features in fresh and fun ways. Milwaukee Public Library 

“Pentiment”  (Xbox, PC, PlayStation 4|5, and Nintendo Switch)

“Reimagined”  (Meta)

This VR narrative is a female-led, directed, and produced anthology series that takes the audience into a new kind of storybook by showcasing lesser-known fables, mythology, and folklore in a gender-inclusive experience. Very Cavaliere Productions, Meta Quest

“We Are OFK”  (PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, Steam)

We Are OFK  is a virtual music project and interactive narrative that follows a group of friends who form a band, exploring conflicts of creative enterprise, including money, mental health, and loss, as well as the unique challenges of creative work in the digital age. OFK 

“You Destroy. We Create | The war on Ukraine’s culture”  (Meta Quest)

In the summer of 2022, Gayatri Parameswaran and Felix Gaedtke took their 360-degree camera behind the frontlines in Ukraine to bear witness to another kind of fight: the cultural battlefield. Their resulting VR film brings audiences close to Ukrainian artists and cultural workers who are protecting, rebuilding, and creating art in a time of crisis. NowHere Media

Documentary

“ All That Breathes” (HBO | Max) Two brothers devote their lives to the quixotic effort of protecting the black kite, a majestic bird of prey essential to the ecosystem of New Delhi that has been falling from the sky at alarming rates. Amid environmental toxicity and social unrest, the “kite brothers” spend day and night caring for the creatures in their makeshift avian basement hospital. HBO Documentary Films presents ALL THAT BREATHES in association with Submarine Deluxe and Sideshow; a Kiterabbit Films and Rise Films production in collaboration with HHMI Tangled Bank Studios

“All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” (HBO | Max) This film documents the life of artist Nan Goldin and her activism against the Sackler family, whose Purdue Pharma aggressively marketed its OxyContin painkiller—a substance largely responsible for America’s opioid crisis. Goldin, who herself was once addicted to the drug, has led creative protests in an effort to stop major museums from taking Sackler donations and naming galleries after the family. HBO Documentary Films presents a Participant and Neon presentation

“The Eternal Memory” (Paramount+) Augusto and Paulina, a couple who have been together for 25 years, face down Augusto’s recent Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis, wondering when the moment will come that he no longer recognizes her. Micromundo, Fabula, MTV Documentary Films

“Eternal Spring” [VICE (US) / CBC (Canada) / ARTE (France & Germany) / BBC Storyville (UK)] This animated documentary written, directed, and co-produced by Jason Loftus is based on the animation of Chinese artist Daxiong and centers the Falun Gong’s 2002 hijacking of broadcast TV stations in Changchun, and China’s continued repression of ethnic and religious minority groups. Lofty Sky Entertainment Inc.

“Independent Lens: Hidden Letters” (PBS)

Directors Violet Du Feng and Zhao Qing reveal how modern women in China are working to maintain the tradition of Nüshu, a secret calligraphy language used to communicate during a time when many women were kept from literacy. Fish and Bear Pictures LLC, Ten Thousand Images, ITVS, ZDF/ARTE, Bird Street Productions LLC, InMaat Productions, EST Media Holdings Inc., Nika Media, Chicken & Egg Pictures

“Independent Lens: The Picture Taker” (PBS)

“Independent Lens: Sam Now” (PBS)

A boy helps his half-brother search for his missing mother in this coming-of-age documentary about generational trauma, following Sam Harkness from age 11 to 36 as his middle-class Seattle family is heartbroken and bewildered after his mother suddenly leaves them. HA/HA Films, 2R Productions, ITVS

“Murder in Boston: Roots, Rampage & Reckoning” (HBO | Max) HBO’s series traces the complex history of race-based hostilities in Boston, explored against the backdrop of the 1989 case of Charles Stuart, whose frantic 911 call reporting that he and his wife, a white couple, had been shot by a Black man would ignite a firestorm. HBO Documentary Films in association with The Boston Globe presents A Little Room Films Production

“POV: While We Watched” (PBS) This timely depiction of a newsroom in crisis follows Indian journalist Ravish Kumar for two years as he battles a barrage of fake news, falling ratings, and the resulting cutbacks while struggling to maintain fact-based analyses. BRITDOC Films, American Documentary | POV

“The Stroll” (HBO | Max) The Stroll tells the history of New York’s Meatpacking District from the point of view of transgender sex workers who lived and worked there, recounting the violence, policing, and gentrification that eventually led to a movement for trans rights. HBO Documentary Films

“To Kill a Tiger” (TVO, Knowledge Network) Ranjit, a farmer in India, demands justice for his 13-year-old daughter, the victim of a brutal gang rape. His decision to support his daughter is virtually unheard of, and his journey unprecedented. Notice Pictures Inc., National Film Board of Canada

ABC News Studios IMPACT x Nightline: On The Brink” (Hulu) ABC anchor Diane Sawyer and senior congressional correspondent Rachel Scott report on the harrowing stories resulting from new healthcare restrictions on pregnant women, with severe penalties threatening physicians and women facing life-threatening delays. ABC News

“ Clarence and Ginni Thomas: Politics, Power and the Supreme Court” (PBS) Controversy has swirled around U.S. Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas and his political activist wife, Ginni. FRONTLINE traces the couple’s rise to power in a narrative that intersects with the history of race and conservatism in America. FRONTLINE (PBS)

“Hate Comes to Main Street” (WTVF-TV, NewsChannel 5) As a bizarre political campaign unfolded in a small Tennessee town, WTVF’s chief investigative reporter Phil Williams was unflinching in exposing the lies of a Christian nationalist, anti-LBGTQ mayoral candidate, even in the face of threats from white supremacists. Williams’ committed coverage resulted in record voter turnout and a resounding defeat for the controversial candidate and her far-right allies. WTVF-TV, NewsChannel 5

“It’s Bisan from Gaza and I’m Still Alive” (Al Jazeera Media Network) Independent journalist Bisan Owda reports from her own social media account as she leaves her home in Gaza City and is repeatedly displaced during the Israeli bombing of Gaza Strip. In collaboration with AJ+, Bisan provides a critical, on-the-ground perspective in a place that has been difficult for international journalists to access. AJ+

“Nowhere To Turn” (TEGNA/ KARE-TV/KARE11.com) Minnesota’s KARE11 begins with a local case that leads to a nationwide investigation of widespread sexual assault perpetrated by private contractors who are charged with transporting inmates over long distances. KARE- TV, KUSA-TV, WHAS-TV

“Shadow Men: Inside Wagner, Russia’s Secret War Company” (wsj.com) This 40-minute documentary film goes behind the scenes of the Wagner Group, a nefarious organization led by Yevgeny Prigozhin—a mercenary, oligarch, and onetime associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin—who has since rebelled against the leader and died in a plane crash. The Wall Street Journal

“War in the Holy Land” (PBS NewsHour) PBS News’ one-hour primetime special aired one week after the October 7th Hamas attacks, helping viewers make sense of the devastation, the Palestinian group responsible, the intelligence failures of Israel and its allies, and the history of the region’s tensions. PBS NewsHour, PBS News

“ The Wrong Man” (KFOR) Twenty years ago, an imprisoned man, Glynn Simmons, sent a letter to Oklahoma’s News 4 explaining that he had been wrongfully convicted. For two decades, the station’s Ali Meyer investigated, and now, finally, Simmons has been exonerated. KFOR

Public Service

“911: Hanging on the Line” (KNTV) After being stabbed in Oakland, California, a police officer almost died because his own 911 calls failed to connect to an operator. The NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit uncovered a deeply broken city, state, and federal 911 system. Their persistent coverage led to state action and, ultimately, Oakland investing millions of dollars into its 911 center. NBC Bay Area

“America and the Taliban” (PBS) FRONTLINE’s three-part documentary looks into how the United States lost the war in Afghanistan, who is responsible, and what the human cost has ultimately been, using decades of on-the-ground reporting as well as interviews with U.S. and Taliban officials. FRONTLINE (PBS)

“ America’s Dangerous Trucks” (PBS) Deadly traffic accidents involving large trucks have surged over the past decade. In an unforgettable hourlong documentary, FRONTLINE and ProPublica examine a particularly harrowing type of truck accident—“underride crashes”—and why they keep happening despite a relatively inexpensive solution. FRONTLINE (PBS), ProPublica

“The Post Roe Baby Boom: Inside Mississippi’s Maternal Health Crisis” (USA TODAY streaming channels) Thousands more babies are expected to be born each year in Mississippi after the state’s restrictive abortion ban was passed in the wake of the overturning of Roe v. Wade. This USA Today film takes viewers to the Mississippi Delta to document how these pregnancies are playing out, particularly for women in rural areas where the maternal healthcare system was already pushed to its brink. USA TODAY and The Tennessean

Radio/Podcast

“Borrowed and Banned” (Brooklyn Public Library) Over a ten-episode podcast series, the Brooklyn Public Library traces the war against books in America by talking to those who are most affected by it—students, librarians, and teachers whose livelihoods are threatened when they resist, and writers whose books are embattled. Brooklyn Public Library

“How the Far Right is Making Voting Fraud Easier” (NPR) The ERIC system is one of the best tools states have to catch voter fraud. In a months-long reporting project, NPR uncovered the conservative movement working to sabotage the system, despite the Republican Party’s claims that it is dedicated to catching and rooting out voting improprieties. NPR

“The Empty Grave of Comrade Bishop” (Podcast platforms) A two-year investigation by The Washington Post uncovers new details in a long-running international mystery: When Maurice Bishop, the revolutionary leader of Grenada, was executed in 1983 alongside seven others, where did their remains go? Through more than 100 interviews and archival research, this podcast examines the evidence, including the role played by the U.S. government. The Washington Post

“The Retrievals” (Serial Productions and The New York Times) Serial Productions and The New York Times tell the story of how dozens of women seeking to get pregnant at a Yale fertility clinic endured excruciating—and, it turns out, unnecessary—pain during the egg retrieval process. The real story behind their pain touches on the intersection of the fentanyl epidemic in America, women’s health issues, and the ways female patients are routinely gaslit. Serial Productions and The New York Times

“The Uncertain Hour: Season 6 (The Welfare-to-Work Industrial Complex)” (Marketplace/American Public Media) Many Americans have long believed that welfare recipients must get a job—or be preparing for one—to receive government assistance. This Marketplace production delves into the lucrative business that surrounds welfare- to-work policies, and the ways those businesses work to keep recipients dependent on their services. Marketplace “Unreformed: the Story of the Alabama Industrial School for Negro Children” (iHeart Podcasts)

“You Didn’t See Nothin” (Podcast platforms)

Formerly incarcerated journalist Yohance Lacour revisits the 1997 hate crime on the South Side of Chicago that inspired him to enter the world of investigative journalism before his own ten-year prison sentence. He looks at the ways the crime shaped his own life and reinterprets its implications through a current-day lens. Invisible Institute and USG Audio

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