Call for additional Traveller youth funding
A Cork Traveller advocacy group has called for improved youth work funding to better meet the needs of the Travelling community
The call comes following a new mapping survey launched this week by the Irish Traveller Movement (ITM) which represents local, regional, and national Traveller groups and organisations across Ireland.
The Mapping Youth work for Travellers in Ireland survey found that almost half of Ireland’s Traveller population live in counties which have no funded Traveller-specific youth projects. Cork is one such county.
It also found that Traveller (52%) and mainstream organisations (45%) both reported educational disadvantage as the most significant challenge experienced by young Travellers.
The survey included data from 67 mainstream organisations and 26 who were Traveller-specific.
The findings, which cover both Traveller-specific and mainstream youth services, have spurred Leeside advocacy organisation, the the Cork Traveller Visibility Group to call for improved mapping of youth work funding to better meet the needs of what they describe as “one of the most marginalised groups of young people” in Ireland.
Speaking at the survey launch, Cork Traveller Visibility Group youth development worker, Rachel Coffey, said: “Youth work should be accessible for all, with a particular spotlight on culturally appropriate spaces to ensure Traveller youth can flourish and grow to their full potential.
“Investing in Traveller organisations where youth work opportunities arise should be supported given the barriers our youth face accessing mainstream youth services,” added Ms Coffey.
The majority of funding for youth work programmes comes through Government’s UBU Your Place Your Space programme which targets disadvantaged, marginalised, and vulnerable young people. However, the ITM survey found that numerous counties with significant Traveller populations have no Traveller-specific UBU funded youth projects, such as Cork, Limerick, and Wexford.
The survey found that while Traveller organisations were more active at engaging with Traveller youth than mainstream youth services, half of Traveller organisations (53%) receive no funding for youth work.
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.”
She added: “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.”
ITM stated that it is keen to work with all key stakeholders to address the findings of the survey and ensure its recommendations are implemented through its National Traveller Youth Programme.