Call for work schemes to better meet the needs of young travellers in Laois
Members of the Laois Traveller Action Group pictured at the launch the survey (l-r): Traveller Community Development Worker Brian Byrne, Dolly Nevin (16) and her brother Aaron Nevin (15) and Traveller Community Development Worker Jules Fitzpatrick.
THE Travelling community in Laois is calling for youth work schemes to better meet the needs of their young people.
According to a recent survey carried out by the Irish Traveller Movement (ITM), the majority of Traveller organisations do not receive any funding for youth work and as such traveller youth under-represented in funding of youth work.
The survey, of both Traveller specific and mainstream youth services, has encouraged Laois Traveller Action Group to call for improved mapping of youth work funding to better meet the needs of one of the most marginalised groups of young people.
Speaking at the launch of the survey Laois Traveller Action Group Community Development and Youth Worker Brian Byrne said he has seen first-hand the transformative impact of targeted youth work.
He said: “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.
One young Traveller Dolly Nevin spoke at the launch and told of how her life has been transformed through youth work.
She said: “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.”
The 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.
The survey found that while Traveller organisations were more active at engaging with Traveller youth than mainstream youth services (53%) receive no funding for youth work.
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.
ITM’s coordinator of the National Traveller Youth Programme Rose Marie Maughan said: “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.”
