From Martin Collins, a Traveller in Ireland.

Martin Collins
The situation of Travellers in Ireland today can be best described as one of exclusion and oppression.

...the health situation of Travellers is quite poor because of the appalling living conditions that we are forced to live in. I will give two examples: a Traveller man can, on average, expect to live twelve years less than his counterpart in the settled community; the infant mortality rate among Travellers is three times higher than the national average. These are the frightening health statistics for Travellers and it is because of the harsh living conditions that Travellers are forced to live in.

Travellers are treated as outcasts and this is evident in the frequent refusals to serve Travellers in pubs, hotels, restaurants, laundries and so on. Discrimination is also evident in the widespread opposition groups which organise to prevent Traveller sites from being built in 'their' areas. Travellers are not protected from this blatant discrimination. The European Parliament Report on Racism and Xenophobia5 recommended that the only member state that has not already ratified the UN convention on elimination of all forms of racial discrimination do so as soon as possible. That member state is Ireland. Ireland has no anti-racist legislation and is therefore not in a position to ratify this convention