Travellers and Roma in Ireland:
Travellers refer to the approx. 35,000 Irish Travellers living in Ireland, who were officially recognised as a minority ethnic group in 2017. Roma refers to those who identify as Roma in Ireland, approx. 4,000-5,000 people. This includes migrants and second and third-generation Roma, many of whom are Irish citizens.
Key problems:
In 2017, Travellers and Roma continue to be among the most marginalised groups in Ireland. Census 2016 found that 13.3% of Traveller females were educated to upper secondary level or above, compared with almost 69.1% of the general population. A 2017 report using data from Census 2011 reveals an unemployment rate of 82% among Travellers aged 25–64 years, compared to 17% for non-Travellers. A survey conducted with Travellers in 2017 suggests that many Travellers feel that their situation has regressed. 69% of respondents had been affected by suicide in their immediate or wider family. A National Needs Assessment of Roma in Ireland found that approx. 10% of respondents are living in extreme poverty, in sub-standard accommodation, with no bathroom, kitchen or cooker. For this group of respondents accommodation is overcrowded, with reports of rats, damp and sewerage problems. Approximately 50% of respondents reported not always having enough food, and fuel or being able to keep their house warm all the time.
Irish National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy (NTRIS) 2017-2021 (Department of Justice and Equality, in English)
RCM Coordinator:
RCM coalition members:
RCM 2 (2021-2025) reports:
Roma Civil Monitor (2022) Civil society monitoring report: lessons learnt from implementation of the National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy 2017-2021, and recommendations for the post-2022 strategy in Ireland. ENGLISH
Poster presenting main findings of the report (2022)
RCM 1 (2017-2020) reports:
Roma Civil Monitor (2017) Civil society monitoring report on implementation of the national Roma integration strategies in Ireland: Focusing on structural and horizontal preconditions for successful implementation of the strategy. ENGLISH
Roma Civil Monitor (2018) Civil society monitoring report on implementation of the national Roma integration strategy in Ireland: Assessing the progress in four key policy areas of the strategy. ENGLISH
Roma Civil Monitor (2019) Civil society monitoring report on implementation of the national Roma integration strategy in Ireland: Identifying blind spots in Roma inclusion policy. ENGLISH
Roma Civil Monitor 2017-2020 country fiche: Ireland
Non-RCM resources on Traveller and Roma in Ireland:
Rachel Mullen & Niall Crowley (2022) Implementation of Traveller Policy: Terrain for Imagination and Challenge. Pavee Point.