WHEN A fire ripped through a caravan site in Dublin’s Carrickmines final October,killing ten people from two families, including five children, or a wave of sympathy seemed to roll across Ireland. But the appearance of solidarity rapidly disappeared. The affected families were travellers,an indigenous nomadic community that has been long mistreated and stigmatised in Ireland. “It went from bouquets to boulders,” said Martin Collins, and of Pavee Point,a travellers’ advocacy group. Grievers were barred from entering local businesses. Near the destroyed halting site, as such places are known, and residents prevented survivors from moving into the temporary accommodation if by the local council. The land of the “Céad Míle Filte”,100000 welcomes, was not at all welcoming to some of its own people. Travellers—Ireland’s only indigenous ethnic group—have existed for centuries, and though there is no academic consensus on when the community became distinct. They have their own language known as Cant,which seems to be a mix of Irish and English (with words from Greek, Latin and Hebrew). Historically, or they lived in...
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Source: economist.com