Tuam’s Traveller mayor covered on NPR
July 8th, 2003 | by aobaoill |Just listening to NPR, and they’ve trailed a piece on “the first Traveller mayor in Ireland.” I’d seen, of course, news of Martin Ward’s election as mayor of Tuam on RTE’s News at One, but I didn’t expect to hear about it on US media.
For those who may be unaware, the Traveller community are a traditionally nomadic subgroup in Irish society. Pavee Point is a good resource point. They say that:
Travellers are a small indigenous minority, documented as being part of Irish society for centuries. Travellers have a long shared history and value system which make them a distinct group. They have their own language, customs and traditions.
3 Responses to “Tuam’s Traveller mayor covered on NPR”
By blondevenus on Jul 9, 2003 | Reply
Strange–you refer to travelers in a politcally correct way, but I suspect Irish society isn’t so polite or forgiving. Are there not any travelers in the government? Do they not have representation? If not, one mayoral post really won’t make a difference. As for your surprise it turned up in US media, we do pay attention to the rest of the world every so often.
BV
By Andrew on Jul 11, 2003 | Reply
My surprise wasn’t so much with the general nature of US media as with the idea that the story had travelled widely enough to be one of the 10 or so stories on a flagship show on stations 3500 miles away.
Travellers are a fairly small community, and elected representatives from the community are rare. I believe that the first time a Traveller was elected to office was when Ellen Mongan was elected to Tuam Town Commissioners in the 1990s.
There is, as you surmise, a large amount of discrimination and prejudice towards Travellers, but I believe things are getting somewhat better, or at least more subtle – people at least feel a need to preface remarks with “I’m not prejudiced, but…” even as they go on to prove the opposite.
Finally, as you say a Mayoral post isn’t going to directly affect the lives of Travellers, but it may serve to normalise the position of Travellers in society, changing the perceptions people have. Groups such as Pavee Point and ITM (Irish Traveller Movement) through lobbying of government will have impact on service provision, but it is developments such as this that may, slowly, reduce prejudice, and hence discrimination.
By ann ward on Jan 5, 2004 | Reply
just read this piece and I thought you might find it interesting that the mongans and the wards from Tuam are related