A Traveller and Roma advocacy group appearing before an Oireachtas Committee has called for the Hate Speech law to proceed through the Seanad “as quickly as possible” to deal with “far-right” discrimination and racism.
Thursday’s Joint Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller community heard from national NGO, Pavee Point Traveller and Roma Centre, along with representatives from the Irish Traveller community.
Pavee Point describes itself as a national NGO comprised of Travellers, Roma and majority population that works at local, regional, national and international level to address Traveller and Roma inequalities.
Gabi Muntean, a Roma woman, who spoke on behalf of the government-funded NGO formed in 1985, said the Roma organisation was “very concerned” that the current Hate Speech Bill completes its course through the Seanad “as quickly as possible.”
Roma are also often the target of racist online hate speech. Hate speech against Roma can be extreme with death threats against Roma, references to extermination and shocking verbal abuse,” Muntean said.
“This is why we are very concerned that the current Hate Crime Hate Speech Bill completes its course through the Seanad as soon as possible. Our community should not have to suffer fear because of our ethnic group.”
“We need to say, as a society, that extreme hate speech is wrong and people need to be held [to] account for this,” the Community Development worker with the charity said.
Speaking on behalf of Pavee Point, Ms Muntean said that while Roma people make up “a small minority in Ireland,” with approximately 16,000 Roma people living in the State, the community is “often targeted for a significant amount of discrimination and racism.”
“For example,” Ms Muntean said, “Roma were one of the groups targeted by the far right on social media after the riots in Dublin City in November 2023 to stir up hatred and racism. This was a difficult time for Roma in Dublin and elsewhere, especially Roma women – many of whom were afraid to go out on the streets for weeks after those frightening events.”
Ms Muntean said that while the Roma charity welcomed the government’s recent Action Plan on Racism, implementation of this plan, the State also needs to ensure that Traveller organisations and groups working with Roma in Ireland are “directly involved” in the implementation of the plan.
She said that some Roma are unable to access social protection, including Child Benefit payments in Ireland, “even after having lived in the country for”several years.”
“A key barrier to this is the Habitual Residence Condition. In this day in age, we should not have Roma families not being able to access the most basic social protection payments. And payments to parents for all children in the State should be the most basic starting point,” Ms Muntean told the Committee.
In February of last year, Pavee Point, with the assistance of the Department of Integration, published research reporting that unemployment among Roma people living in the Irish State was 83 per cent. The report claimed that 20 per cent of Roma are “completely marginalised,” with commentators suggesting this was down to discrimination and racisim.
Gript’s Matt Treacy has, however, pointed out that the actual report upon which the news reports were based “would appear to have been the outcome of anecdotal rather than statistical research.”
Matt Treacy, writing last August, highlighted how 74,475 persons of Romanian citizenship have been issued with a PPS number in Ireland since the beginning of 2018 – making Romania significantly the single highest country of origin across the whole of the European Union. In the 2022 census, 16,059 people described themselves as Roma.
Estimates suggest that Roma constitute a large proportion of those who are listed as Romanian nationality and who have been granted PPS numbers. As Matt Treacy wrote, if the estimates of unemployment among Roma are accurate, it would suggest that the Roma community constitutes a substantial proportion of those of non-Irish citizenship who are registered as unemployed.
Senator Eilleen Flynn, who is of Irish Traveller descent, also used Thursday’s Committee meeting to call for the implementation of the Hate Speech Bill.
Senator Flynn said Hate Crime legislation was “vital,” telling the meeting:
“Hate crime has a negative impact on all the issues I mentioned. It should not be acceptable, when we have a housing crisis, that we see accommodation burned that was earmarked for Travellers or people seeking international protection.
“I feel it’s important that my colleagues understand the huge importance that people from our community and all minority communities attach to having a State and institutions that will protect them from acts of violence and hatred that are motivated by racism and other forms of bigotry.”
The Independent Senator claimed that “this is not a ‘Hate Speech’ Bill,” adding: “It is a Hate Crime Bill, which contains a much- needed update on the unworkable 1989 Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act.”
“As Minister McEntee has said, opinions are not going to be criminalised,” Senator Flynn claimed.
“This legislation will send a signal to our minority communities that acts of violence carried out against any minority group because of their identity is unacceptable and contrary to our values of equality and inclusion, and to our vision of an equal and inclusive society.
“It’s also important to remember that, for example, if a Traveller is attacked on a street for being a Traveller, the psychological harm can run much deeper than if someone is mugged at random for their wallet,” she said.
“Hate crime really strikes at the core of your identity. It has an impact on everyone else in your community and other minority communities.
“Everyone in our country must feel that they belong. They must know the State has their back,” Senator Flynn added.