"No need to upset each other."
I hope not Van - not on my part certainly.
I am well aware of the differences in culture of the various Travelling groups in Britain, though I sometimes think those differences are misunderstood.
For instance, our main experiences are with Irish and Scots Travellers who have been on the roads for many centuries and have their own strong distinctive cultures.
I can see no reason why differences in culture should act as a barrier between these groups and it disturbs me greatly when those differences are used to denigrate all Travellers: Gypsies, Rom, Tinker.... whoever.
All of their traditional ways of life are now faced with extinction at present and one of the ways to hurry that extinction has been to exploit the differences.
The London Roadside Travellers group was made up of English and Welsh Gypsies and Irish and Scots Travellers; together they won decent sites for London Travellers and nearly managed to get the racist signs removed - an important lesson, as far as I'm concerned.
Divide and conquer and bigotry have been the weapon of the establishment for a long time now.
Sorry about the noisy child in the background - we are expecting the baby-minder at any minute!
Jim Carroll