Covid Stories from the Traveller Community
This document presents testimonies documenting the impact of Traveller accommodation on the experiences of the Traveller Community in the south west during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Background
Irish Travellers are an indigenous ethnic minority. The overcrowded and substandard living conditions affecting many Travellers across the county had been highlighted for many years by Traveller organisations, as well as being noted at national level. [i] During the pandemic, overcrowding combined with lack of access to water and sanitation posed a very serious risk to Travellers’ health in terms of being able to maintain physical distancing, follow recommended hygiene practices and to self isolate where necessary.
In a 2020 report, Social Justice Ireland noted ‘Lack of facilities and unsanitary conditions in some Traveller accommodation, particularly so-called unauthorised halting sites, present a serious health risk in normal times. In the midst of a highly infectious pandemic, they could be catastrophic’.[ii]
On 18th March 2020, the Department of Housing issued a circular to all Local Authorities[iii], directing that ‘every effort should be made to find prompt and practical solutions… to reduce the spread of COVID19 and lessen the risk of infection’ for Travellers ‘living on sites with limited facilities’ and advised additional funding was available for:
- Additional units of mobile accommodation / space where there is overcrowding
- Additional units (either mobiles on site or houses elsewhere) to allow for self isolation
- Provision of facilities such as extra toilets, running water
About this Research
This research was conducted on behalf of the Cork and Kerry Regional Accommodation Working Group of Cork and Kerry in the immediate aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. The project is funded by the St. Stephen’s Green Trust. Interviews were conducted by Phil Dillon Solutions, and compiled by Parable Communications.
Cork and Kerry Regional Traveller Accommodation Working Group (RTAWG), is a collaboration between 6 Traveller led community development organisations working in the South-West.
- Cork Traveller Women’s Network
- Traveller Visibility Group Cork
- West Cork Travellers
- Travellers of North Cork
- Kerry Travellers Health and Community Development Project
- East Cork Travellers
The RTAWG was set up in the aftermath of the fatal Carrickmines fire tragedy and in response to the State’s failure to provide adequate and safe accommodation for the Traveller community nationally, despite massive advocacy work done by Travellers and Traveller organisations.
The working group focuses on building new coordinated strategic regional responses to the Traveller accommodation crisis by giving visibility to Traveller experiences around accommodation and homelessness and proposing solutions to influence policy and practice.
The working group complements and strengthens the accommodation support and advocacy work carried out by the local Traveller led community development projects by allowing information exchange, shared analysis and building shared responses on a range of strategic levels.
Methodology
Traveller leaders and Community Development workers from south west were interviewed in order to document the impact of Traveller accommodation on the experiences of the Traveller Community during the Covid-19 pandemic.
These interviews were transcribed and coded along key findings, experiences, and key recommendations from Traveller leaders and Community Development workers on the ground in County Cork and County Kerry.
Key Findings
Some Local Authorities did not have an adequate emergency plan
There was no adequate emergency plan to respond to a public health (or other) crisis on some Traveller sites, we are still unclear if such a plan has been established. Given the pre-existing issues of overcrowding, shared and inadequate toilet facilities, and a lack of hot and cold running water for families living in the worst conditions, the fact that the Local Authorities did not have an adequate emergency plan for Traveller communities in their areas delayed effective responses to minimise risks for Traveller families.
As a result, Traveller communities were put at avoidable risk of harm by Covid-19, and remain at severe risk of harm from other natural disasters such as flooding, fire or another pandemic outbreak.
‘We were very lucky that very few Travellers in the first lockdown contracted COVID. But if they had local authorities weren’t prepared. There were very few preventative measures put in place to prevent people from getting the virus and keep them safe. This was despite national guidelines directing the councils to take all necessary action to deal with overcrowding and lack of facilities on the Traveller sites’
‘For us as Travellers it really highlighted for us how difficult it is for the Traveller community, without a pandemic. It gave us a real insight as to what could have happened to the community, if things had gone the other way. If, at the beginning there had been a massive outbreak on any of the sites, it probably would have gone very bad.’
‘In general, it felt like the luck of the draw. Traveller organisations were asked to put in a standard operating procedure and highlight the issues in the halting sites. In particular, what would happen if there were an outbreak. So from very early on, maybe nine months before there was actually an outbreak – we had put together a system.’
‘Soon after the first lockdown there was a circular that was sent down from the department and we thought ‘we’re good here, everything is going to kick in here’. We were wrong.’
‘It was scary, because people knew they couldn’t protect their families during the first lockdown, people were living with fear every day, because they knew they couldn’t protect their families the way they should have been able to protect them due to the overcrowding and living conditions.’
‘When they provided self isolation units for families, which were stock accommodation from their own portfolio, which was offered to three families, to isolate in when they were COVID-19 positive. We worked with the families and they were already in their second week of isolation, by the time they got a house, so I’m not sure what kind of defence that was.’
‘When they [families isolating due to covid] got to those [temporary emergency self isolation] houses, every single one of them had one major facility missing, either it was heat and light, or it was both.’
‘you just kind of felt this was part of a policy or plan internally, to make Travellers not bother with this option, you know, just ‘don’t knock on my door’ kind of thing.’
It must be noted that Kerry is a smaller county with four sites and the Traveller organisation in Kerry had a more positive experience in dealing with the local authority around a Covid Response.
There did not appear to be a robust oversight of Local Authorities from National Government
While the Department of Housing circular directed local authorities to make every effort to reduce overcrowding and to provide basic sanitation for Traveller families living in the worst conditions, implementation varied at local authority level. Local authorities had limited guidance and lacked the expertise to deliver emergency services and support to the Traveller community. There was no benchmarking of a minimum standard to be provided, no monitoring of the timeliness or effectiveness of actions taken by local authorities to protect Travellers during Covid. Whilst some Councils performed well nationally, most didn’t, and work to keep the Traveller community safe back on under-resourced projects and Traveller Community leaders
‘Our organisations, staff and community volunteers supported Travellers with public health advice information during the pandemic – the problem was that so many people were already in desperate living conditions, making it difficult to isolate.’
‘Of course Travellers supported our families to follow the guidelines and looked out for our elders and vulnerable people, but when you are living in an overcrowded space, with 20 people from 3 generations sharing bathrooms and living space, without access to hot water, how can you socially distance and isolate? Covid highlighted for us how vulnerable Traveller families are due to the living conditions. I still can’t believe we had to lobby the local authority to deliver toilets and drinking water into official sites.’
‘Some local authorities mobilised on it quite quickly, while some really dragged on. There was a disconnect between a crisis situation and the response times.’ (Irish Traveller Movement)
Some local authority responses in the south west to the national directive to address overcrowding and lack of facilities for the most vulnerable Travellers, were unnecessarily slow, delivered basic facilities in a piecemeal and reactive manner and lacked crisis management plan, while others were more proactive. Many of the actions were reactive as opposed to protective.
‘The local authority did provide temporary houses units for families to isolate due to Covid. 3 families who we supported were already in their second week of isolation, by the time they got a house, so I’m not sure what kind of defence that was. When they got to those houses, every single one of them had one major facility missing, either it was heat and light, or it was both.’
‘While support was there on paper, on the ground it was different, one family with young children living in a very overcrowded setting who tested positive for Covid, were provided with a mobile home to isolate. It had a generator for electricity, but there was no diesel in the generator. The family had no electricity. I had to head out source a tank of diesel and deliver it myself and that is just one example.’
Traveller Accommodation Budgets were spent on low grade temporary facilities, not long term infrastructure
While national Traveller accommodation budgets were spent during Covid, potentially something that the National Government may consider a mark of success, it is clear from our research that these budgets were spent primarily on low grade temporary facilities and emergency work. There was an opportunity for a proactive move towards more permanent infrastructure that would support the long term health and wellbeing of the Traveller Communities living in their Local Authority Areas, especially in the later stages of pandemic.
The spend has created very little change on the ground to the core issues affecting Travellers – over crowded poor quality accommodation.
This is due to the lack of will and ability of the local authorities and also the lack of oversight and enforcement of good standards by the Government.
‘If they actually took the risk of listening to Traveller leaders, they would have realised people were solutions based, they weren’t just complaining. They had ways it could work better. Saying that, people did an amazing job across the Traveller community projects’
‘I think if you want to illustrate a nutshell of the response to the local authority, it’s this: When the portaloos were delivered, they were dropped in the centre of a halting site as one block of communal public toilets at a time when people were isolating. So it ended up first come first served for the families. There wasn’t even one portaloo per family, which would make sense, you’re still sharing a portaloo with people. It was pointless.’
Some councils did not have accurate and up to date information on the living conditions of the Travellers in their areas at the start of Covid
Despite being obliged by law to do an accommodation needs assessment for Travellers in their Local Authority Area, Councils had poor and often inaccurate information on the Traveller Communities in their area.
‘Poor living conditions for Travellers pre-exists the pandemic, putting Traveller families at greater risk. For a while now, Traveller organisations were looking to address inequalities in how we worked. The slogan ‘we are all in it together’ didn’t acknowledge how hard it was for Travellers living in overcrowded conditions, to socially isolate. If you don’t have the basic facilities, you have very different challenges keeping safe during Covid’
It is important to report that the living conditions in many of the sites official and unofficial sites in the region were dangerous before the pandemic – with overcrowding, lack of access to basic facilities such as hot and cold water toilets, lack of access to private washroom facilities, and many sites being in poor repair with outdated facilities.
‘There was this notion of picking between people – who was worthy and who was not. For families living in very bad conditions, no social distancing, no sanitation, if one of them had that problem before covid, then they weren’t helped. It made no sense.’
Some Traveller Projects felt that their expertise was ignored
Traveller Projects have a unique insight into the needs of the communities they are part of. When Covid-19 hit, Traveller groups in the Cork and Kerry area were taking a proactive approach to keeping their communities safe. Although there was engagement from the HSE, local authorities, advice and insights from Traveller projects was not always taken on board.
‘On the planning committee, based on our knowledge of the conditions on the ground made recommendation to improve conditions for the families immediately, help them to practice social distancing, and keep themselves safe. But the authorities weren’t taking them on board’
‘In general, it felt like the luck of the draw. Traveller organisations put in a standard operating procedure and highlight the issues in the halting sites. In particular, what would happen if there were an outbreak. So from very early on, maybe nine months before there was actually an outbreak – we had put together a system’.
On the other hand, there were examples of good practice in the region as well. Kerry County Council consulted with the local Traveller organization and based on this consultation provided external and internal sanitation on sites, funding for a Traveller Liaison Officer and sanitation packs for individual bays and free electricity for residents and also allocated units for self-isolation. Additionally, the relationship between the local authorities and the Traveller organization facilitated an easy access to decision makers within their structures.
Institutional Bias in Local Authorities
When Covid-19 hit Ireland in Spring 2020, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage issued a circular to advise Councils on how to keep the Traveller community safe during Covid-19. This included advice such as private sanitation facilities for separate families, extra isolation units for people who had contracted Covid-19 and shielding facilities for people who were at high-risk of Covid-19.
Despite a budget being made available, and strong public health advice from the Department, some local authorities failed to provide timely and effective action to protect Traveller health, while others were more proactive.
Often, when Traveller projects queried these decisions, they were met with delays or inaction.
‘The delays come down to the value that’s placed on Travellers. If the response isn’t reflecting the urgency in some local authority areas, it just feeds back into the greater questions around Traveller accommodation, discrimination and racism and how that plays out on a structural level.’
‘There was an air of concern from the local authority that giving people the basic facilities they needed, may be setting precedents’.
‘It really reinstated for us how far down the pecking order that we really are .. we’re really the bottom of the pile when it comes to getting protection from the State’.
Key Recommendations
1. Introduce Robust Monitoring for Local Authorities around Traveller accommodation
Local Authorities who fail to act on national guidelines around Traveller accommodation and health should be monitored and sanctioned by National Government.
2. Ensure all Local Authorities have a Crisis Action Plan for Traveller accommodation
There is no emergency plan to respond to a public health (or other) crisis on Traveller sites, we are still unclear if such a plan has been established. The development of such a plan must include Travellers and Traveller organisations and a safety plan must take into account the existing living conditions of Travellers.
We would welcome the opportunity to be involved in the development of such a plan.
This research demonstrated the lack of preparedness that underpinned Local Authorities response to the Covid-19 emergency for Travellers. We recommend that Local Authorities must have emergency action plans for the potential of floods, fires, and other potential public health emergencies that may impact the lives of Travellers.
3. Give Traveller communities and Traveller projects a stronger policy making role
Traveller projects have significant expertise in ensuring that the Traveller community’s needs are met, how sites should be managed, and what type of support should be made available. However, it is evident from this research that whilst Traveller projects were consulted, their expertise was not always heeded. Traveller projects should be a key decision maker in any and all decisions that affect the communities they are from, and work closely alongside.
4. Meet the needs of Travellers on ‘unofficial’ sites
The needs of Travellers who are sheltering in ‘unofficial’ sites must be a responsibility of the State. In the current absence of adequate ‘official’ culturally appropriate accommodation for Travellers, the State must recognise and fulfil their obligations to keeping the Traveller community safe. This means ensuring the delivery of adequate accommodation, sanitation resources, and other safety requirements.
Along with the prolonged, national chronic underspend of the Traveller accommodation budgets, the Covid-19 pandemic illustrated that even when Local Authorities are green-lit with all the resources, budgets and direction from the national Government to properly serve the Traveller community, they fall far short of delivering. It’s time to take the delivery and management of Traveller Accommodation out of the hands of Local Authorities, and instead have a National Traveller Accommodation Agency, with the Traveller community leading as key stakeholders and decision makers.
[i] https://data.oireachtas.ie/ie/oireachtas/committee/dail/33/joint_committee_on_key_issues_affecting_the_traveller_community/reports/2021/2021-12-01_final-report-of-the-joint-committee-on-key-issues-affecting-the-traveller-community_en.pdf
[ii] Social Justice Ireland (2020), ‘Inadequate housing means c.14,700 households unable to social distance – #MoveTheVulnerableOut’, 27 March 2020, available at: https://www.socialjustice.ie/content/policy-issues/inadequate-housing-means-c14700- households-unable-social-distance
[iii] Pavee Point (2020) ‘COVID-19 Information and Resources’, available at: https://www.paveepoint.ie/stay-safe-from-coronavirus-covid-19/ and Department of Planning, Housing and Local Government (2020)