Title of Project : Irish Travellers and Criminal Justice on the Island of Ireland (North & South)
Project Description :
The research question was broadly concerned with discrimination. The aims of this research were to examine the situation of Irish Travellers within the criminal justice systems on the island of Ireland (Northern Ireland & the Republic of Ireland). The objectives were to ascertain Irish Travellers’ experiences and perceptions of criminal justice, and review other existing qualitative and quantitative data related to the Traveller Community and criminal justice within the two jurisdictions.
During the literature review it became evident that anti-trespass laws have exacerbated the potential for the social inclusion of many Irish Travellers. Despite a range of existing by-laws within both jurisdictions by which illegally encamped Travellers could be moved on, one Act within the Republic of Ireland has had especially dire repercussions for many Travellers: the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2002. This gave police new powers to move Travellers on with less than 24 hours notice. Failing to do so, the vehicles and caravans of Travellers have often been impounded. Alternatively, within Northern Ireland concerns were raised that should it be implemented, the Unauthorised Encampments (Northern Ireland) Order 2005 would have a similarly negative impact upon the social inclusion of Travellers. Specifically, issues were raised by statutory authorities, notably the Police Service for Northern Ireland of the disparity between the implications of adherence to obligations incurred under the terms of Section 75 and application of the proposed Unauthorised Encampments Order. This is due to the fact that Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 requires public authorities, in carrying out their functions relating to Northern Ireland, to have due regard to the need to promote equality of opportunity and to have regard to the desirability of promoting good relations. Consequently, investigation of the effects of recently ratified anti-trespass legislation and the potential ramifications of proposed anti-trespass legislation upon Travellers became a focus point, under-pinning the aims and objectives of this research.
Overall, forty-two interviews were completed. Twenty-five of these were with Irish Travellers; nine with members of criminal justice agencies; six with non-Traveller members of Traveller support agencies; one with a non-Traveller working for a voluntary agency and one with a priest working in a prison in the South. Criminal justice agencies were invited to participate in order to redress the obvious deficit of existing knowledge concerning the Traveller Community and to enable comparison between the experiences and perceptions of Travellers and official policy responses. Interviews were semi-structured using a list of extensive open ended questions. Questions were developed in consideration of information gleaned from the existing literature review. In the main, these related to nomadism and anti-trespass laws; obstacles in access to employment; access to services and goods such as shops, pubs, restaurants and leisure centres and the outcomes of complaints regarding such issues; knowledge of human rights; views upon media representation of Travellers; the criminalisation of Travellers; stop and search by police; complaints against police practice; incarceration; drug use and risk of offending; access to solicitors, and allegations of feuding.
Other Information :
Background experiences related to this research:
For my undergraduate dissertation, I researched the health, welfare, and education of Irish Travellers and Gypsies within the United Kingdom. The scope of the dissertation was limited to a general overview of the situation, and the methodology relied heavily upon existent data located within the literature review. Even so, this enquiry enabled me to become informed as to the issues and concerns related to these communities. Post graduation, I was employed as an assistant researcher for two years, until the close of 2002, on ‘Room to Roam: England’s Irish Travellers’ (Power, 2003: http://www.irish.org.uk/research_roam.shtml ). This project was designed to develop new information concerning the experiences of Irish Travellers in England, in their relationships with health, welfare, criminal justice and educational agencies. In particular, with regard to criminal justice, this research identified that lack of accommodation provision, (including transient sites that would discourage illegal encampment) had led Irish Travellers into confrontation with local authorities and police forces. Also, it became apparent due to interviews with Irish Travellers and police respondents, that some police officers had employed racist attitudes toward Irish Travellers. It was manifest that these attitudes had informed policing of Irish Travellers. One example is that rather than responding to actual events or incidents, police forces ordinarily treated familial gatherings and events, such as funerals and weddings, as public order threats. The research also found evidence of negative stereotyping and racism toward Irish Travellers within both the prison and probation systems, and a lack of recognition of the specificity of Irish Traveller ethnicity and culture.
Following Room to Roam, I held post for eight months as an action researcher for Bedfordshire Rural Communities Charity (BRCC). My duties here were to liaise with English Travellers on a local site; ascertain issues and concerns related to their welfare and attempt to involve them in activities enabling integration within the local community. Due to knowledge gained during my undergraduate dissertation and subsequent employment I became aware that there was a dearth of knowledge regarding the experiences of Irish Travellers and Gypsy/Travellers in relation to criminal justice. In particular, interviews and informal meetings held with Irish Travellers, Gypsy/Travellers and police officers on the two projects mentioned above, and lack of data within literature reviews, suggested a paucity of knowledge concerning any aspect related to criminal justice and these communities. This begged exploration and I became interested in the situation for Irish Travellers on the divided island of Ireland.
PUBLICATIONS:
Drummond-Donnelly, A. (2005) ‘Traveller history’, History Ireland, Letters: March/April Vol 13 No.2, p. 14. Wordwell, Dublin.
Forthcoming: Drummond, A. (2006) Cultural Denigration: Media representation of Irish Travellers as Criminal in: Hidden Voices - (Dialogue between the Irish Traveller, Roma and Settled Communities), Edited by Acton, T. & Ó hAodha, M., Cambridge Scholars Press (May, 2006).
PAPERS:
Room To Roam Irish Traveller Project, ‘Crossing Borders’ conference London Metropolitan University 15/11/02.
Keep on Moving, Don’t Stop: Anti-Nomadic Laws on the Island of Ireland ,
14th World Congress of Criminology, August 7-11 2005, Jerry Lee Center of Criminology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
GUEST LECTURES :
Here Today, Gone Tomorrow: Irish Travellers and Criminal Justice in Ireland,
University of Ulster, 07/12/05 & 10/02/06
If you would like to learn more about how we can help further your studies and career opportunities, please contact us.
Name : Anthony Drummond
E-mail Address : a.drummond@ulster.ac.uk
Tel No : 028 903 68552
Mode of Study : Full time
Expected Completion Date : December 2006
Supervisor(s) : Dermot Feenan, School of Law, Dr. Una Convery, School of Social Sciences
Title of Project : Irish Travellers and Criminal Justice on the Island of Ireland (North & South)
Project Description :
The research question was broadly concerned with discrimination. The aims of this research were to examine the situation of Irish Travellers within the criminal justice systems on the island of Ireland (Northern Ireland & the Republic of Ireland). The objectives were to ascertain Irish Travellers’ experiences and perceptions of criminal justice, and review other existing qualitative and quantitative data related to the Traveller Community and criminal justice within the two jurisdictions.
During the literature review it became evident that anti-trespass laws have exacerbated the potential for the social inclusion of many Irish Travellers. Despite a range of existing by-laws within both jurisdictions by which illegally encamped Travellers could be moved on, one Act within the Republic of Ireland has had especially dire repercussions for many Travellers: the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2002. This gave police new powers to move Travellers on with less than 24 hours notice. Failing to do so, the vehicles and caravans of Travellers have often been impounded. Alternatively, within Northern Ireland concerns were raised that should it be implemented, the Unauthorised Encampments (Northern Ireland) Order 2005 would have a similarly negative impact upon the social inclusion of Travellers. Specifically, issues were raised by statutory authorities, notably the Police Service for Northern Ireland of the disparity between the implications of adherence to obligations incurred under the terms of Section 75 and application of the proposed Unauthorised Encampments Order. This is due to the fact that Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 requires public authorities, in carrying out their functions relating to Northern Ireland, to have due regard to the need to promote equality of opportunity and to have regard to the desirability of promoting good relations. Consequently, investigation of the effects of recently ratified anti-trespass legislation and the potential ramifications of proposed anti-trespass legislation upon Travellers became a focus point, under-pinning the aims and objectives of this research.
Overall, forty-two interviews were completed. Twenty-five of these were with Irish Travellers; nine with members of criminal justice agencies; six with non-Traveller members of Traveller support agencies; one with a non-Traveller working for a voluntary agency and one with a priest working in a prison in the South. Criminal justice agencies were invited to participate in order to redress the obvious deficit of existing knowledge concerning the Traveller Community and to enable comparison between the experiences and perceptions of Travellers and official policy responses. Interviews were semi-structured using a list of extensive open ended questions. Questions were developed in consideration of information gleaned from the existing literature review. In the main, these related to nomadism and anti-trespass laws; obstacles in access to employment; access to services and goods such as shops, pubs, restaurants and leisure centres and the outcomes of complaints regarding such issues; knowledge of human rights; views upon media representation of Travellers; the criminalisation of Travellers; stop and search by police; complaints against police practice; incarceration; drug use and risk of offending; access to solicitors, and allegations of feuding.
Other Information :
Background experiences related to this research:
For my undergraduate dissertation, I researched the health, welfare, and education of Irish Travellers and Gypsies within the United Kingdom. The scope of the dissertation was limited to a general overview of the situation, and the methodology relied heavily upon existent data located within the literature review. Even so, this enquiry enabled me to become informed as to the issues and concerns related to these communities. Post graduation, I was employed as an assistant researcher for two years, until the close of 2002, on ‘Room to Roam: England’s Irish Travellers’ (Power, 2003: http://www.irish.org.uk/research_roam.shtml ). This project was designed to develop new information concerning the experiences of Irish Travellers in England, in their relationships with health, welfare, criminal justice and educational agencies. In particular, with regard to criminal justice, this research identified that lack of accommodation provision, (including transient sites that would discourage illegal encampment) had led Irish Travellers into confrontation with local authorities and police forces. Also, it became apparent due to interviews with Irish Travellers and police respondents, that some police officers had employed racist attitudes toward Irish Travellers. It was manifest that these attitudes had informed policing of Irish Travellers. One example is that rather than responding to actual events or incidents, police forces ordinarily treated familial gatherings and events, such as funerals and weddings, as public order threats. The research also found evidence of negative stereotyping and racism toward Irish Travellers within both the prison and probation systems, and a lack of recognition of the specificity of Irish Traveller ethnicity and culture.
Following Room to Roam, I held post for eight months as an action researcher for Bedfordshire Rural Communities Charity (BRCC). My duties here were to liaise with English Travellers on a local site; ascertain issues and concerns related to their welfare and attempt to involve them in activities enabling integration within the local community. Due to knowledge gained during my undergraduate dissertation and subsequent employment I became aware that there was a dearth of knowledge regarding the experiences of Irish Travellers and Gypsy/Travellers in relation to criminal justice. In particular, interviews and informal meetings held with Irish Travellers, Gypsy/Travellers and police officers on the two projects mentioned above, and lack of data within literature reviews, suggested a paucity of knowledge concerning any aspect related to criminal justice and these communities. This begged exploration and I became interested in the situation for Irish Travellers on the divided island of Ireland.
PUBLICATIONS:
Drummond-Donnelly, A. (2005) ‘Traveller history’, History Ireland, Letters: March/April Vol 13 No.2, p. 14. Wordwell, Dublin.
Forthcoming: Drummond, A. (2006) Cultural Denigration: Media representation of Irish Travellers as Criminal in: Hidden Voices - (Dialogue between the Irish Traveller, Roma and Settled Communities), Edited by Acton, T. & Ó hAodha, M., Cambridge Scholars Press (May, 2006).
PAPERS:
Room To Roam Irish Traveller Project, ‘Crossing Borders’ conference London Metropolitan University 15/11/02.
Keep on Moving, Don’t Stop: Anti-Nomadic Laws on the Island of Ireland ,
14th World Congress of Criminology, August 7-11 2005, Jerry Lee Center of Criminology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
GUEST LECTURES :
Here Today, Gone Tomorrow: Irish Travellers and Criminal Justice in Ireland,
University of Ulster, 07/12/05 & 10/02/06
If you would like to learn more about how we can help further your studies and career opportunities, please contact us.