Pavee Point is a voluntary, or non-governmental, organisation committed to the attainment of human rights for Irish Travellers. The group is comprised of Travellers and members of the majority population working together in partnership to address the needs of Travellers as a minority group experiencing racism, exclusion and marginalisation.

The aim of Pavee Point is to contribute to improvement in the quality of life and living circumstances of Irish Travellers, through working for social justice, solidarity, socio-economic development and human rights.

The innovative work of Pavee Point is varied and complex. Actions have been modelled focusing on intercultural education and training, information dissemination, youth work, community development, violence against women, anti-racism, gender equality, networking nationally and internationally, the Traveller economy, Travellers’ cultural heritage, primary health care, early childhood care and education and pre and in-career training or those working with Travellers.

 

 The work of Pavee Point is based on two key premises:

• Real improvement in Travellers’ living circumstances and social situation requires the active involvement of Travellers themselves.
• Non-Travellers have a responsibility to address the various process which serve to exclude Travellers from participating as equals in society.

 

Our Principles:

Human Rights
All people, including Travellers, Roma, and Gypsies, should have access to resources which enable them to meet basic human needs, to reach a socially acceptable standard of living, and to live with dignity in society.

Social Solidarity
We believe that social solidarity must be based on efforts to bridge the divisions and inequalities based on wealth, power and social status. Traveller solidarity involves developing alliances among and between Travellers and Roma as well as with different sectors of the non-Traveller population, nationally and internationally.

Cultural Diversity
We believe that a multi-cultural and multi-ethnic society should be based on equality and mutual respect. Travellers and Roma have a right to assert and celebrate their distinct ethnic identities.

Community Development
We believe a community development approach and its associated principles provide an appropriate way of working with Travellers. It means working with, rather than for, Travellers. Is supports collective action, participation and empowerment, and gives priority to preventative actions.

Multi-dimensionality
We believe that single-factor explanations of the situation of Irish Travellers are simplistic and inaccurate. The problems Travellers experience, and issues of concern in relation to Travellers, are multiple and complex. They require a holistic, multidimensional approach.

Partnership
We believe that Travellers and non-Travellers can be most effective in a partnership relationship that recognises their respective responsibilities, strengths and competencies. We also believe in the value of developing a range of partnerships with other organisations and agencies, voluntary and statutory.

Equality
We believe that we must be pro-active if all people are to enjoy equality of treatment and of access. We therefore espouse an anti-racist, anti-sexist approach, and we also reject exclusion on the grounds of disability, sexual orientation, national origin, or age.

 

Who are Irish Travellers?

Irish Travellers are an indigenous minority group who have been part of Irish society for centuries. They have a value system, language, customs and traditions which make them an identifiable group both to themselves and to others. While Irish Travellers are native to Ireland they have much in common with European Roma, Travellers, and Gypsies. The experience of exclusion and discrimination, and having to resist polices of assimilation in order to retain their ethnic identity, is one which Irish Traveller and European Roma and Gypsies share and easily recognise.

 

Pavee Point ‘éist’ Project and EDENN

Pavee Point has worked to improve the lives of Traveller children for the past 20 years. In line with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Pavee Point seeks to ensure that: the voices of Traveller children are heard, their identity and culture are respected, they are protected from discrimination, and their right to intercultural/anti-bias education becomes a reality.

The ‘éist’ project has worked consistently over the past 12 years to influence policy development, training and practice regarding the development and implementation of a diversity and equality approach: an approach which supports the principle that each child deserves to develop to his or her full potential, social inequalities are recognised and diversity is acknowledged and respected. To this end the ‘éist’ project has undertaken a variety of tangible projects while at the same time advocating and contributing to policy development. Some initiatives are outline below:

Diversity and Equality Training :a Pilot

Over twelve years ago, Pavee Point, recognising the need for a diversity and equality focus in ECEC, developed a diversity and equality training programme for the Irish context - the éist’ project.  This project consisted of piloting and evaluation. This process revealed considerable knowledge gaps, highlighting a real need to engage in personal reflection, attitudinal work and anti-discrimination work, together with very practical engagement with children and parents in relation to diversity and equality issues. The participants showed a willingness to reflect on and evaluate their own practice, and over the duration of the course identified their individual learning needs and embraced change.

 The results prompted the Bernard van Leer Foundation and a cohort of County and City Childcare Committees in Ireland to support the implementation of a national Training of Trainers programme (2006).

Diversity & Equality Training of Trainers in Early Childhood Care Education (ECCE)

The ‘éist’ programme developed and delivered a Diversity and Equality training of trainers programme in 2006. Trainers were selected through an interview process. The training programme consisted of 165 direct training hours. This programme is accredited by the National University of Ireland (NUI) Maynooth. It is the first ever university accredited diversity and equality ECEC training programme in the Republic of Ireland.

A variety of County Childcare Committees, the BCCN and FAS supported 12 learners on the programme. Each learner attending was experienced as a trainer and had a qualification in early childhood or related discipline.

 The training programme places emphasis on the trainer’s own journey of change: how they understand diversity and equality concepts, how the societal and historical context influences thinking and practice, exploring power issues and how prejudice, discrimination, racism, sexism etc. operates in society, engaging in critical reflection on issues of practice, and how to contextualise practice in each individual ECEC service. The methodology embraces collective rather than individual learning and supports team engagement both through the training practice and the delivery of training to practitioners.

 The training is directly linked to the Síolta Quality Framework (2006, CECDE), the Aistear Curriculum Framework (2009, NCCA) and the Diversity and Equality Guidelines for Childcare Providers (2006, OMCYA).

 

Mainstreaming the Approach

The Early Years Education Policy Unit in the Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs is funding a national Diversity and Equality Initiative (2011). This project is being headed up by Clare County Childcare Committee and being delivered through the county and city childcare committee structures. This is a major initiative where 160 ECEC services (5 in each of the 32 counties) will receive accredited diversity and equality training, mentoring hours to support implementation and appropriate resources to meet the needs in their service. The initiative will be evaluated. This initiative is built on the work of the ‘éist’ project and EDENN Network. The trainers delivering the programme have all completed the training of trainers programme and are delivering the ‘éist’ training programme. Contact: murraycolette@yahoo.co.uk

 

Policy

Working in tandem with these initiatives, the ‘éist’ project and EDENN was successful in supporting a diversity and equality focus in key ECEC policy documents - Síolta: National Quality Framework (2006); Aistear: the Early Childhood Curriculum Framework (2009) and Diversity and Equality Guidelines for Childcare Providers (2006).

The Intercultural Education Strategy (DES 2010). The Strategy has significant relevance to early childhood care and education. You can down load the strategy on the Department’s website at

http://www.education.ie/home/home.jsp?pcategory=10856&ecategory=51881&language=EN