What comes to mind when you hear the phrase "Traveller Pride?" Have you ever heard of Irish Traveller Pride Week before?
Traveller Pride Week began on July 3, and is a two-week celebration of Irish Traveller culture, heritage, and identity. I am an Irish Traveller disabled women activist, and this was my first year celebrating it; I couldn't be happier to be a part of it: Rosemarie Maughan of the Irish Traveller Movement invited me to be a panellist at my first Traveller Pride event, and I was quite happy with how the day went and I would like to share that with you.
This year's theme was celebrating young change makers in our community, and it was held in the Shamrock Lodge Hotel in Athlone, alongside me there were two other panel speakers; Latisha McCrudden (Mayo ) and James Stokes (Kildare ), among the questions we were all asked, we all spoke about the importance of young Traveller voices being heard and listened to, and how this country could be more accepting of us if we were given the chance.
I thought I would share my perspective of how this event went and then ask the panellists, MC Samantha Joyce, and Rosemarie Maughan, how they felt the day went.
For starters, I thought the day went very well, and being allowed to speak at an event like this was incredible, and I loved that I was given the freedom and space to express my opinions and perspective on how Irish Traveller organisations can support young Travellers because if young Travellers were listened to, they could bring unique perspectives to important discussions that would have a positive impact in this country.
I also focused on the importance of intersectionality in the community because there are many people like myself (a wheelchair user ) in this community and I know we could help in making those important decisions for our community because we have very unique perspectives and experiences of this world; I really hope we see them at these important discussions - I was grateful to be a part of it and I hope there will be many more of these events in the future.
"The day went great; I was honoured to have the opportunity to be a panellist on the first of many Traveller youth events," stated James Stokes. He highlighted the importance of looking back at our history while honouring these change makers to recognise how far we have come as a community and how much more we still have to fight for.”
"I felt the day went very well; I was proud to share my story and words of wisdom, but also to hear yours and James' stories," Latisha McCrudden commented. “I felt it was fantastic that we could be so open about so many different subjects in a room full of Travellers; I believe that this event is only the beginning of what's to come in the future." Latisha emphasised the significance of financial security for everyone, particularly women because you never know where life would lead you.”
Samantha Joyce, a Kilkenny Traveller Community Movement member, a well-being and awareness worker with the Traveller Health Programme, and a member of the Irish Traveller Movement Youth Forum, acted as the event's MC.
She recited two of her poems (Pavee Lackeen and She ); Latisha and I felt very empowered by her words, especially in the poem She, because we believe it connects Irish Traveller women on a deeper level.
When asked how she thought the day went, she said, "I think it went well for the first ever event. There were definitely powerful moments, and I thought it was nice to hear all the panellists speak, and I thought it was good for me in terms of boosting my confidence in myself and my poetry.”
"It was a moment of great pride hearing the four young Travellers celebrating their achievements despite the additional barriers they have faced as Traveller youth to achieve them," said Rosemarie Maughan (Coordinator of the National Traveller Youth Programme with the Irish Traveller Movement ).” Without a doubt, every one of them has a bright future ahead of them."
This event was funded by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration, and Youth and it was coordinated by the National Traveller organizations which were The Irish Traveller Movement, Pavee Point, Galway Traveller Movement, Involve Youth and Community Services, Minceirs Whiden and Exchange House Ireland.
