June 2012 4/5 Eustace Street Dublin 2, Ireland Tel: +353 1 679 65 77 Fax: +353 1 679 65 78 Email:
[email protected] Web: www.itmtrav.ie Campaign News Inside: Members’ Matters • Ethnicity Message from the Director • Education Dear Members and Friends of the Irish Traveller Movement (ITM), welcome to our first information update of 2012. So much has • Legal been happening over the past 6 months on important issues such as the ethnicity campaign, Traveller accommodation programmes, • Media the impact of cuts in education, the law centre casework and policy submissions to various government departments. As members • Local Action of ITM many of you have been involved in different aspects of this work or may have been informed through our ezine. This to renew the drive for ethnic recognition. You will see that so newsletter however brings all that information together, to update much has been happening, we launched a petition, two of our and inform you of the work in a concise and accessible format as conferences were on the theme of ethnicity and again this year part of on going commitment to keep you, the members, fully at our annual conference we will look at the link between racism, briefed on progress. discrimination and ethnic denial. Progress has been made as the burden of proof shifted to the State to prove why Travellers do not The economic situation has impacted greatly on the workload of meet the internationally recognised criteria for ethnic minorities. Traveller organisations, who have fewer resources but are dealing with more issues as the impact of the cuts is being felt at local However, we need to continue and push the State to recognise level.