Donegal Travellers Project has ‘helped to build a stronger community’

DONEGAL Travellers Project (DTP) is celebrating a milestone 30 year anniversary this week.

The organisation has been supporting members of the Traveller and Roma communities since its foundation.

A conference was held yesterday at the Silver Tassie Hotel with a panel of speakers, a curated exhibition of Traveller and Roma artwork and a music session among the highlights.

The occasion recognised the growth of DTP and its vital role both in the local community and on a national level.

For Ann Friel, Assistant Manager and Primary Healthcare Coordinator at DTP, the event marked her own 27 years of being involved with the organisation.

The Letterkenny native was first introduced to the DTP through a Community Employment (CE) scheme and has been employed there for 25 years.

When Ann first entered the doors of DTP, she had a difficult relationship with school and left at the age of 13.

“The school environment just wasn’t for me and my own experience in secondary school was quite negative,” she said.

“I had very little reading and writing when I started at the Donegal Travellers Project.”

Joining the DTP women’s group and hearing other women’ s stories helped her to put words to what she had experienced.

“I think 27 years ago was the first time where we as women were brought into a space and looked at issues affecting us,” Ann explained.

“We knew we were experiencing racism and discrimination, but we didn’t know what it was called. We didn’t have the language or the words to describe what we were facing. We thought this was just the way it was, we were treated in a particular way and that’s what it was in society and nobody questioned it.”

The DTP had a crèche facility for Ann’s two young children, something that supported her as she resumed education.

“There were settled people and Travellers trained as childcare professionals running the crèche and I felt quite comfortable putting my children there,” she said.

“That definitely was a massive support to me in terms of my own journey through leadership, my own journey through education, my own journey through employment.”

Joining the DTP helped Ann to complete her Junior Certificate at the age of 25. She progressed through ETB courses and completed Level 6 at ATU Donegal.

A special opportunity arose for Ann at Maynooth University when they ran a Level 7 course in conjunction with Pavee Point, an NGO which advocates for Traveller and Roma communities.

She is currently studying for a Masters degree in Community Development through Maynooth University.

Ann is now one of the directors of Pavee Point and helped develop the national framework Traveller Culture and Awareness and Anti-Racism (T-CAR).

She has held different roles within the DTP over the years, starting off as a community health worker before becoming Assistant Coordinator of the Primary Health Care Project in 2008.

“The Primary Health Care Project is a model that is recognised by the Irish state and the HSE in Ireland,” Ann explained.

Ann was one of the coordinators for Donegal to deliver the All-Ireland Traveller Health Study in 2010, which was the largest piece of research ever conducted on Travellers’ health.

“I got trained and then I’d have to go out and train the community health workers, collect the data, and send the data,” she said.

“I was in that role for about seven years and then I applied for the Coordinator’s role and then I was Coordinator of Primary Health Care, which I still am.”

The All-Ireland Traveller Health Study found some worrying statistics.

While Traveller women’s life expectancy increased by 0.6 years from a 1986 report, the study found that life expectancy for Traveller men was 15 years less than the settled population.

It also found the suicide rate to be almost seven times higher in the Traveller community than any other community in Ireland, five times higher among women and seven times higher among men.

There have been a number of research projects carried out on the Traveller community since the 2010 study, and some of these have had positive health findings.

“Traveller women are way ahead of the settled population in terms of breast screening and cervical screening,” said Ann.

“We’re way ahead of the general population in terms of vaccinations here in Donegal for our Traveller children.”

Ann puts this down to the work of Primary Health Care projects in reaching out to members of the community.

One value that Ann holds close is advocating for equality for all groups who are marginalised in society.

“If you really believe in equality, as I always say to people, you have to believe in equality for all under the ten grounds,” she said.

“People from LGBTQI community, people from other ethnic minorities, lone parents, religions and you have to go in with that thinking because you just cannot look for equality for one group of people. If you really believe in equality, you believe in equality for all.”

The DTP has expanded its services in the last 30 years and continues its work in community development.

“Donegal Travellers Project has The National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy II 2024-2028 (NTRIS II), it has an education team, it has a Roma team,” said Ann.

“It’s got a Primary Health Care team, it’s got a domestic violence gender-based violence team, it’s got a family links project, it’s got a mental health project, it’s got a drugs and alcohol project, and it’s got a preschool.”

Ann is one of the trainers in the DTP’s intercultural training team, working with organisations to improve their engagement with the Traveller and Roma communities.

The DTP covers Donegal and north Leitrim in its work and covers Sligo and Leitrim for Roma health.

There is an office on the Port Road and at Celtic Apartments in Letterkenny and Ballyshannon.

Ann has seen her children progress through education.

Her son, David Friel graduated with a Masters from ATU Donegal. He is Chairperson of the Board of Management at DTP and chaired the 30 year-anniversary event.

Members of the Traveller and Roma community still face barriers in society, including in education, employment and healthcare.

Ann believes that the 30 year anniversary is a “testament” to the Donegal Travellers Project.

“It is a celebration about recognising the past, the achievements, but also continuing the work for the future,” she said.

“DTP has continuously, always worked to create the conditions where Travellers and Traveller women can thrive. And that’s what they have done for me.

“It was all about promoting equality, participation, and education, and looking at cultural identity and inclusion. And the investment in women and in Traveller women the organisation did, and leadership, it helped to build a stronger community.”