I come from a gypsy / travelling family AMA

[TowerTumble]

I have name changed for this. I see so much misconception and ignorance around the travelling community and towards families like mine. I've started an AMA so if you have any questions to try and stop this misconception I'll answer everything I can!

Would you say that members of the Travelling community tend to be rather wealthy on average - as is often the perception?

If so, where does the wealth come from? Is it working hard, long hours; keeping money within the community (e.g. sharing jobs and skills together); frugal lifestyle (e.g. caravans must be much cheaper than big detached homes); generational wealth?

You and others have said about the great generosity amongst many in the community, which is very kind of them; but they obviously have this money spare to be able to give it to worthy causes!

If there were more sites for travellers and more areas where travellers are welcome it would help this problem. But again it's a very small group of people who do this and it doesnt represent our culture as a whole

OP you're doing a good job answering questions but I very much disagree with you saying that only a minority leave school at secondary age. The opposite is true. It's very, very rare for a gypsy or traveller to go to university.

It's a huge part of our history. Some communities don't like it and others don't mind it at all. I usually just say I'm from the travelling community

Have you any opinions on how our schools could support children from your community better? Thanks so much for your time

Why do you think so many non-travellers hate having traveller camps/villages nearby? For example there is a perception that travellers have no respect for non-travellers, and that they don't obey the laws of the country they reside in.

Is there anything you or we can do to correct our perception?

We tend to buy our clothes from independent boutiques and a lot of the time they are travellers themselves. We also make a lot of our garments.

With regards to turning up in car parks, most of my community are settled but the people who are still in the trailers have to go somewhere, and shouldn't have to give up their culture and history just because they aren't welcomed. It would be much better if more travelling friendly sites opened up but nobody would like to do that due to the stereotypes

We have a funfair every year by travellers/gypsies and they do leave the place spotless. It’s probably part of their contract to do so, but it’s still good to see. It would be nice if parks could be left as good (and yes festival goers should bloody clear up after themselves, the filthy lot).

I know you will think this is racist and I apologise for it - but truthfully the last time I walked past the travellers who stop near my home, some of the adolescent lads were throwing stones at a dog that was tied up to the door of their trailer.

The second event was a group of travellers wrecked the really lovely fields near my DH’s gran’s house and they vandalised the children’s playground next door also - it was covered in glass and litter, the slide had been destroyed etc. Massive cost for the council to repair it

How does the traveller community plan to address anti social behaviour and why hasn’t it been possible to make these communities more accountable for those behaviours which let the rest of the community down?

PS i was too scared to ask them to stop and I knew the police wouldn’t care about the dog so to my shame I did nothing about it.

Travellers have a specific look about them. Also our surnames. If there's been a heavy traveller presence in the area (which is usually temporary) anybody with a typical travelling last name could be turned away from a meal somewhere

I'm a teacher (primary) and I've worked with lots of traveller children. My experience with their families has generally been positive and I've always been treated with respect by their parents.
Lots of times though they arrive part way through primary, due to travelling around, with really low literacy levels. I have a gorgeous boy in year 3 at the moment who arrived last September and I've just got reading at a basic level. But he hasn't turned up this week after half term and previous experience has me worried that will be it. I often don't get goodbyes.

My question is, is this typical and is it hard on the children to leave without closure? And are literacy levels a concern? Before this little boy came to me he hasn't been in school for a year. Do you have any advice for me as a teacher?

Sorry that was 3 questions. Thank you for this AMA ☺️

It seems a bit of a vicious circle, doesn't it? There aren't enough Traveller sites, which leads some to invade school playing fields and supermarket car parks; but then, because those groups do this, when there are proposals for new official sites, the public are largely massively against them - and register countless objections - because of what they have seen the aforementioned groups do!

What gave you that impression? I am here answering everyone's questions about my life and culture. Would you say the same to a Muslim or Jewish person?

Yes, no Irish person would confuse the two — they’re quite distinct.

@TowerTumble, the male suicide rate among Travellers in Ireland is appalling — I think Pavee Point statistics put it at 7 times higher than men in the population at large. (It’s also high for women, but the disparity is less extreme.) Why is this, in your opinion?

Apologies I missed it! I'm trying to keep up with everyone's questions. Men tend to try and 'settle' issues between them. Unfortunately it can lead to big family disputes and conflicts. It's less common now, but yes it does happen. Usually a fight is organised between the 2 main men involved and they will bare knuckle fight. I don't see much of this now but it's common in other communities

Do you get together a lot with the traveller community? I feel like that's how it's portrayed that family is very close etc on TV and was wondering what you're family dynamic is like and how close you are also how big is your family?
Thank you ☺️

What happens if a member of the community suffers an episode of a severe mental illness and can't safely be cared for within the community - how would hospital admission be viewed and how would the person be viewed? If it's a travelling group what would happen if the group was moving on and the person was still in hospital?

Is it possible for outsiders to be a part of the community for example if they marry a traveller?

Why have our council had to build raised walls of dirt to stop gypsies parking on the green every year. Why does our local shop have to get a security guard to stop shoplifting when they were parked there. Why’d didn’t they pick up their excrement that was left in the kids playground, never happened before or since.Why were the men driving around the green in trucks ruining the grass.Why were the poor dogs tied up outside day and night with no water in the summer heat and when one escaped and got run over the woman chucked its body in the bin in front of all the children.Why don’t they bag up all their rubbish instead of leaving it for the council to sort out.

Most travellers tend to support a home team. I don't support any football team as I can't stand it 😊

I know your question is for the OP but I just wanted to jump in to say that my friend was an accountant who looked after the tax returns for the travelling community who ran the local fairground. During the decades she worked with them she saw a change in their attitude to their childrens' education so, by the time she retired several years ago, more traveller children were going on to further education and one became a medical student in London

A hospital car park??

How does not travelling affect the "traveller" part of your identity and how would you keep that alive, like do older folks tell stories about travelling?

I've reported that post.

I rescue horses from travellers and the amount of animal cruelty is disgusting. I have zero time for any community who treats their animals so badly
it’s heartbreaking and so utterly cruel

Assuming we don't know what we are doing with child rearing, when it's literally our number one purpose. Looking down their nose on us who have children in our early 20s. A minimal example of this was when the health visitor came round and shouted at me for having for bumpers in my daughters cot. She would not believe me or listen to me when I told her they were display only. I received such awful care when giving birth to my daughter too but I know that's not strictly towards travelling people. The NHS let a lot of people down and make a lot of misdiagnosis. We tend to fund private care when we can