Most Travellers would like to see a greater interaction with the settled community while almost 90 per cent want more pull-on, pull-off sites. This is according to a first survey of travellers’ attitudes published today.
The survey revealed a disparity in the quality of life experienced by Travellers where the highest level of satisfaction was among those living in permanent Traveller accommodation.
It showed Travellers living in temporary sites and on the roadside are least likely to have experienced an improvement in their quality of life.
The survey was conducted by Citizen Traveller, a public and education awareness programme which supports the work of Traveller organisations as part of the Traveller Focus Week 2001.
The landmark survey was conducted among 513 Travellers living in a variety of accommodation types.
When outlining their "wish list" 87 per cent said they would like to see more pull-on, pull-off sites.
The survey showed almost half of the Travelling community had been forced to move on from a location - an experience more prevalent among those living on temporary sites.
Of those surveyed, 44 per cent had a fear of forced movement.
Mr Fintan Farrell, a representative of the Citizen Traveller, speaking at today’s launch, said the survey affirmed the need for a variety of types of Traveller accommodation as recommended in the Local Authority Traveller Accommodation Programme.
One of the significant findings of the survey, according to Citizen Traveller, was the attachment Travellers had to their cultural difference as 80 per cent felt they were different to the settled community in terms of life, culture and attitudes.
Citizen Traveller said the main cultural differences included the Travellers’ love of travelling; their attitude towards caravans and trailers; their language; the attachment to Traveller history and the strength of family ties and the way Travellers think.
But eight out of 10 of those surveyed said they would like to see Travellers and settled people mixing more together.
While the survey highlighted the satisfaction levels of Travellers it also showed they continue to experience discrimination, with those living in temporary accommodation most affected.
Only 11 per cent of Travellers said they had secondary education while fewer said they had gone to third-level institutions/colleges.
Significantly 90 per cent said they would like to see a greater participation by children in secondary schools and more Travellers working in full-time jobs.
"The survey highlights that Travellers recognise that matters have improved for them in recent years but that a large part of their community is being excluded from these improvements," Mr Farrell said.