Michael Higgins Praises Travellers Contribution to Irish Society

You obviously don't care about women's rights though, since apparently traveller women don't count?

It isn't about their culture being different to mine. It's about recognising obvious abuses and the recognition of these transcend "understanding" of culture. Your "understanding" seemingly is to give them a free pass

So then again I'll ask, is the way women are treated in traveller culture, ok in your view?

Travellers selected by Pavee Point, an organisation which claims to represent travellers interests, but in reality is more interested in feathering their own nests and gaining funding for their own organisation. You’ll have to forgive me that I take their reports with a pinch of salt, I’m familiar enough with them to know they don’t represent the traveller community.

I’m not suggesting that you be wilfully blind to the issues you perceive within the traveller community, I’m suggesting that they are issues for you and the small number of travellers who share your point of view of what are issues for them within their community. It would be prejudicial to assume that their views are representative of the traveller community as a whole.

No, that’s simply not the case at all, regardless of whether or not progressives are of that particular view. It’s simply a fact that travellers aren’t held to the same standards as everyone else when the spotlight is being shone upon them as though the negative behaviours and attitudes which you attribute to them because they are travellers, aren’t observed within society in general. They are, but you’re simply choosing to ignore that point. I’d suggest that was the bigotry of higher expectations of travellers tbh.

and yet the media have been reporting it.

if you are unhappy with the coverage, then perhapse when people change their attitudes then the media will be able to give even greater coverage to such events, the media understandably do not want to be in any way responsible for causing greater issues for the community from the usual types.

In your opinion of course, it certainly is not irrelevant to people who live in the community we're this appalling incident occurred.

Perhaps your fine with media not reporting the full facts, I'm certainly not .

It appears as though you think we’re in competition as to how high we can stack it, but I’ll concede that your own position is definitely higher 😁

No, travellers being recognised in Irish law as having their own distinct culture and ethnicity doesn’t mean they supersede any standards set out in Irish law which everyone is expected to conform to.

It’s precisely for this reason that there are a higher proportion of travellers in prison than any other group in Irish society, and I can point to plenty of examples of people who should be in prison, such as the young lads who shoved a girl under a train a few weeks back, and were it not for the fact that they were caught on CCTV released to the public, most people wouldn’t have been aware it ever happened.

We already have basic fundamental standards in Irish society in which people are expected to behave in accordance with Irish law. A minority of people in any group, imagine that Irish law doesn’t apply to them, both travellers and people who aren’t travellers, and most travellers already act in accordance with Irish law, but your expectation that they should all be tarred with the one brush is what makes it more difficult for them to participate in Irish society as equals. I don’t expect them to assimilate into Irish society according to your personal standards, it’s unlikely anyone but yourself holds those standards you expect of everyone else.

A friend of mine who is a teacher had two traveller girls in her class.

They never paid for the books or other activities. The friend, despite what all the other teachers told her, thought that this was just because they were very poor. So she used to pay for them to go on tours etc. Then one day she met them out with their mother in the shops at Christmas and she gave them €20 each. The mother said "You cant give my children money and not give me money". She handed her her last tenner.

For months after that there was a string of them calling to her house looking for money and complaining she gave other money and was discriminating against them because she wouldnt give them money too. Adults these were.

nope realist.

there was thankfully no option but to give them separate ethnic status given they are an ethnic minority, and the government rightly had to recognise that reality.

they won't be able to hide behind that status given a status does not exempt one from the law.

so your rant is meaningless.

nope irrelevant full stop.

the full facts were reported, an incident took place, people were injured, it was a criminal incident and people were arrested.

like i said, it's not on the media to placate you by reporting skin color or ethnic status etc so you and others can use to traveler/muslim etc bash.

Whatever , 3 threads on boards suggest it not irrelevant