The Children of the Nation

It was George Bernard Shaw who gave to us what I consider the most appropriate definition of Irishness; “The heart of an Irishman is nothing but his imagination”. Irishness is curiously intangible, but powerfully enduring. Our struggles against imperial tyranny show this. As does our substantial diaspora. This delicately tough Irish spirit of ours has manifested itself in many ways on this island that we share. The thirty-two counties each have their own unique Irish spirit to offer to the whole. As do the traditions of nationalism and unionism. No one Irish tradition or culture may claim to be the true representation of Irishness. Rather, the different aspects of Ireland are woven together in a grand tapestry that tells of our troubled past and hints at a hopeful future.

There is one manifestation of Irishness that has long faced neglect at best, state-sanctioned oppression at worst. This is the fate of the Irish Traveller. I know this all too well because I am a Traveller myself. That a storied and proud people should be forced to the margins of society and taught to hate themselves because of their ethnicity is a grievous wrong. It is even more shameful when one considers that Ireland herself has known the freezing chill of discrimination, the scalding heat of hatred, and the lonely darkness of ostracization. How could we allow this to happen? We who shook off the yoke of colonialism to forge our own destiny, joining hands with other old nations freed from tyranny in the twentieth century, visited tyranny on our own people. This was a betrayal of the noble fight for liberty that was waged by Irish patriots throughout our history. 

Let there be no mistake, this was a government-led betrayal. Beginning with the 1959 Fianna Fáil government’s commission on solving the “itinerant problem”, the government of this nation has tried every means possible to brutalise Travellers, strip them of their culture and deny them the necessities for a dignified life. This was one of the only policies which Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, the easiest of uneasy bedfellows, unanimously agreed on. In 2020, anti-Traveller policy usually takes the form of pointed neglect. The government can point to things like the fund for providing Traveller accommodation as evidence of their magnanimous change to become champions of equality. They do this while local authorities, usually dominated by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael councillors, refuse to draw down funds to provide the very accommodation that would go so far in righting wrongs and furnishing Travellers with a means to living in dignity.  

The truth is, anti-Traveller rhetoric and policy is a powerful political capital in Ireland. By stirring up fear of Travellers and celebrating when Traveller accommodation was blocked in their constituencies, then Fine Gael Councillors Josepha Madigan and Emer Curry were awarded with election to Dáil Éireann. Deputy Madigan, in an example of great irony, is the Minister for Culture. I do not need to remind anyone of the presidential candidacy of Peter Casey, whose lacklustre campaign roared to life after a barrage of hateful comments that were spread far and wide by a salivating Irish media, who love nothing more than the vicious engagement that follows any news story that happens to mention Travellers. The only example of a political campaign that seems to have been hurt by anti-Traveller rhetoric was that of Fianna Fáil’s Lorraine Clifford-Lee. Whether or not this was because of poor campaigning on her part is unclear. It was terribly gracious of Fianna Fáil to forgive the former-Senator on behalf of Travellers, though.

To be a Traveller is to have a deep and abiding love for the Irish nation. This is despite the cruel divisions that have been fostered by decades of rule by the Civil War parties. I long for reconciliation among the different aspects of Irishness on this island, but especially between the Settled Irish and Irish Travellers. As any struggle for rights will show, the people themselves must take hold of their own destiny. As the increasing participation of Travellers in education, the workforce and the political sphere show, this has begun. But we cannot and should not do it alone. The admirable tradition of anti-racism and concern for the oppressed among the people of Ireland must help us. This must be true of Sinn Féin. A truly progressive and Republican movement must make room at the table for Travellers. This is an essential part of the Republican’s quest to abide by the noble ideals set out by our patriot dead in the Proclamation of the Irish Republic, which sets a vision of the reborn Ireland “cherish all the children of the nation equally”.

The hope of any movement is in its youth. With this in mind, I invite the membership of Sinn Féin, particularly Ógra Shinn Féin to engage in greater dialogue with young Travellers. The United Ireland to which we all aspire will require the engagement and insight of the many different traditions of Irishness throughout the island. For too long, the politics of division has sundered Travellers from their Settled brethren. In Republicanism, there is a way to heal these divisions. It is important that Travellers are represented in politics, both in general activism and in elected positions. This will give a movement a needed intersectional outlook, but more importantly, will empower Travellers to form the policies that have so much influence over their lives. We are at an exciting time in Irish history. We are right now imagining the type of Ireland that will emerge in this century. The deep memory of Irish Travellers can help this great imagining.

le Stephen Moriarty