According to the article; discrimination is ‘being expected to pay get a job’:
> Irish Travellers have a long history of nomadism, but activists have said laws have seen them forced to assimilate into the “settled” population and abandon traditions like living in caravans, keeping horses and specialist trades.
> They have said their culture is being eroded.
> David’s grandfather kept 100 horses, but now, he said, the family is struggling to maintain one horse.
> “The traditional means of employment have been obliterated – tinsmithing, or hawking, or gathering whelks or scrap,” he explained.
> “If you don’t have employment, it’s very difficult to sustain animals.”
Unfortunately times change, vocations that were formally a means to a living have changed – there isn’t such a demand for tinsmithing.
Rather than complaining that that’s discriminatory, perhaps they should look at jobs that provide more value all around?
As for the deprivation…
> Irish Travellers suffer some of the worst discrimination and poverty of any ethnic group in Europe, according to European Union research.
> Members of the community have said it is causing a mental health crisis in their home country.
Surely the poverty is directly within their means to influence? When you pick a lifestyle of nomadism, it’s a natural consequence that you may not be in a position to earn at a level equal to those who live a ‘fixed’ life in one location, putting down roots and holding a steady job / career.
1 comment
According to the article; discrimination is ‘being expected to pay get a job’:
> Irish Travellers have a long history of nomadism, but activists have said laws have seen them forced to assimilate into the “settled” population and abandon traditions like living in caravans, keeping horses and specialist trades.
> They have said their culture is being eroded.
> David’s grandfather kept 100 horses, but now, he said, the family is struggling to maintain one horse.
> “The traditional means of employment have been obliterated – tinsmithing, or hawking, or gathering whelks or scrap,” he explained.
> “If you don’t have employment, it’s very difficult to sustain animals.”
Unfortunately times change, vocations that were formally a means to a living have changed – there isn’t such a demand for tinsmithing.
Rather than complaining that that’s discriminatory, perhaps they should look at jobs that provide more value all around?
As for the deprivation…
> Irish Travellers suffer some of the worst discrimination and poverty of any ethnic group in Europe, according to European Union research.
> Members of the community have said it is causing a mental health crisis in their home country.
Surely the poverty is directly within their means to influence? When you pick a lifestyle of nomadism, it’s a natural consequence that you may not be in a position to earn at a level equal to those who live a ‘fixed’ life in one location, putting down roots and holding a steady job / career.