Young Laois Traveller is 'a strong and inspiring voice for change'

The transformative impact of youth work for Laois Travellers has been highlighted at a national event where the needed for targeted funding for projects to help young Travellers was highlighted.

Laois Traveller Action Group Community Development and Youth Worker Brian Byrne and young Laois Traveller Dolly Nevin spoke at the launch of an Irish Traveller Movement (ITM) survey. It found that about half of the 26 counties with significant Traveller populations in Ireland have no Traveller-specific funded youth projects.

A statement to the Leinster Express / Laois Live said the findings spurred Laois Traveller Action Group to call for improved mapping of youth work funding to better meet the needs of one of what the ITM said is the most marginalised groups of young people.

Brian Byrne is a Laois Traveller Action Group Community Development and Youth Worker. He said he has seen first-hand the transformative impact of targeted youth work in the Laois Traveller community.

“Young Travellers face significant barriers in education, employment, and social inclusion. Without proper investment, we risk leaving another generation behind. Youth work provides not just support, but also hope, opportunity, and a sense of belonging.

“Laois Traveller Action Group is proud to highlight the story of Dolly Nevin, a young Traveller woman whose life has been transformed through youth work. Dolly is now a strong and inspiring voice for change in her community,” he said.

Dolly Nevin was a panellist at the launch.

 “Youth work gave me the support and space I needed to believe in myself. It helped me realise that I could make a difference – not just in my own life, but in the lives of others too. Young Travellers face so many challenges – discrimination, lack of opportunity and barriers in education and employment. Youth work gives us a chance to be heard, to grow, and to lead. Youth work changes lives. I’m living proof of that,” she said in an ITM statement.

LTAG says it represents, promotes, supports, and empowers Travellers to achieve equality, better living conditions, better health, and the recognition of Traveller culture and ethnicity. There is a Traveller population of less than 1,000 in Laois.

The movement said that a majority of funding for youth work programmes comes through the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth ‘UBU’ programme – which targets disadvantaged, marginalised and vulnerable young people.

However, the ITM  says its survey found that numerous counties, such as Cork, Limerick and Wexford, have no designated youth programmes.

The survey found that while Traveller organisations were more active at engaging with Traveller youth than mainstream youth services – half of Traveller organisations (53%) receive no funding for youth work.

Mapping Youth work for Travellers in Ireland included data from 93 organisations, 67 mainstream organisations and 26 who were Traveller specific. The ITM is a national advocacy and membership based Traveller organisation representing local regional and national Traveller groups and organisations across Ireland.

The ITM said the survey highlighted that young Travellers need to have equitable opportunities to culturally competent youth work spaces – whether a Traveller specific space, or a mainstream youth work space.

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The ITM’s Coordinator of the National Traveller Youth Programme is Rose Marie Maughan.

“The decision-making and allocation of youth work funding should respond to the fact that Traveller youth are a key target group who have a high level of tailored needs due to decades of social exclusion and experiencing anti-Traveller racism in all aspects of their young lives.

“It should allocate funds accounting for the population of Travellers per county (based on the Annual Counts of Travellers), as well as within the context of the broader youth population. For example, the survey found Connaught received an allocation of just 7% of the UBU funding, while 17% of Travellers live in the province. This needs to change and be better targeted so that the needs of young Travellers are met.

“ITM is calling on the UBU programme to resource Traveller youth workers in all counties. And also for positive recruitment of Traveller youth workers in mainstream youth work services, in order to increase engagement with the local Traveller organisations,” she said in a statement.

Ms Maughan added that ITM is keen to work with all key stakeholders to address the findings of the survey and ensure its recommendations are implemented through its National Traveller Youth Programme.

The survey found that Traveller (52%) and mainstream organisations (45%) both reported educational disadvantage as the most significant challenge experienced by young Travellers.

Other recommendations in the survey are:

• Include ethnic data collection following engagement with Traveller youth to aid monitoring of participation and outcomes
• Include Traveller cultural competency training in mainstream youth services
• Include anti-racism training and policies in all youth services
• Apply outreach and detached youth work by mainstream services to reach Traveller youth (detached youth work means being out of the office / engaging with young people in their own environment).

A copy of the survey is available by contacting Rose Marie Maughan at rosemarie@itmtrav.ie