Irish Travellers Movement

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The Provision of Progressing the provision of Traveller Accommodation to Facilitate Nomadism

1. Introduction

1.0 The purpose of a document on “Nomadism”

This document brings together all the research and consultations undertaken by the Irish Traveller Movement regarding nomadism over the last decade. It is intended to stimulate discussion on how the provision of Traveller accommodation which facilitates nomadism can be advanced, and suggests practical ways forward to achieve this goal. It is anticipated that this document will assist in informing appropriate responses to nomadism which can influence and shape state services in the future.


1.1    Who is this document aimed at?

This document is primarily aimed at all personnel responsible for the implementation of accommodation services to support nomadism, such as local authorities, the Local Traveller Accommodation Consultative Committees, the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government and the National Traveller Accommodation Consultative Committee, and the general public who are interested in understanding Traveller tradition and nomadism.

1.2    Who are Irish Travellers?

Travellers are an indigenous ethnic minority who, historical sources confirm, have been part of Irish society for centuries. Travellers’ long-shared history, cultural values, language, customs and traditions make them a self-defined group, and one which is recognisable and distinct. Their culture and way of life, of which nomadism is an important factor, distinguishes them from the sedentary (settled) population. The Annual Count 20081 identifies 8,398 Traveller families in the Republic. The number of Traveller families continues to grow at approximately 4% per annum as identified in the 1995 Task Force Report2.

1.3    What is Nomadism?

Nomadism can be defined as ‘a way of life in which a community has no permanent settlement but moves from place to place, usually seasonally and within a defined territory3’. Nomadism is a historical tradition and part of Traveller culture; it is part of who and what Travellers are; it is part of their being as a people. The Task Force Report4 explained that Traveller nomadism takes a range of forms. It includes those who are constantly on the move, those who move from a fixed base for a part of any year, and those who are sedentary for many years and then move on.

Research commissioned by the Irish Traveller Movement and Traveller Movement Northern Ireland addressed the question of what Irish Traveller nomadism means in the 21st century.5 The research dispels the notion that nomadism will ‘die out’ and identifies [two] profound changes [in Travellers’ experience] over the last 50 years which have adversely impacted on Travellers’ economic independence. These are urbanization6 and sedentarization7.
The report notes that while nomadic Travellers form a small minority of the whole Irish Traveller population, the tradition of nomadism continues to be very important to most Irish Travellers – whether they themselves are nomadic / practice nomadism or not. It concludes that 21st century nomadism will be influenced by the success of the Traveller economy; that Travellers are increasingly likely to travel only in the summer months when children are not at school; that nomadism takes place from some fixed geographical base; and that there is some evidence of ‘forced’ or ‘compulsory’ nomadism8.

2. Framework for Nomadic Provision

The Report of the Task Force on the Travelling Community (1995) recommended that 1,000 transient units of accommodation were needed to accommodate nomadism and envisaged that ‘a network of transient sites was required across the country and should be provided simultaneously with the other types of accommodation as an integrated part of a National Programme’. To progress this recommendation, and other Traveller accommodation initiatives, the Government introduced the National Traveller Accommodation Strategy. The legislative framework for the strategy is set out in the Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act, 1998.

2.1 The Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act, 1998

Local authorities are required, under the Act, to carry out an assessment of Traveller accommodation needs and compile and adopt a Traveller Accommodation Programme (TAP) which responds to the needs identified within the assessment. The provision of accommodation for nomadism is an essential part of this process. The Act requires the local authority to assess the need for transient accommodation and, as such, in making an assessment, the local authority shall have regard to ‘the need for sites with limited facilities in relation to the annual patterns of movement of Travellers, otherwise than as their normal place of residence.’9


Furthermore the Act states ‘the provision of sites to address the accommodation
needs of Travellers other than as their normal place of residence and having regard to the annual patterns of movement by Travellers should be included in the TAP.10
As the Act requires local authorities to have regard for the provision of transient sites, a ‘specific obligation is placed on Local Authorities to provide for the annual patterns of movement of families. This not only requires Local Authorities to refrain from taking measures that would inhibit nomadism but also places a positive obligation on the Local Authority to provide services to facilitate nomadism.’11

2.2 Guidelines for Accommodating Transient Traveller Families

The Minister of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government has also issued guidelines to local authorities for providing for nomadism to assist them in ‘addressing Traveller accommodation needs in an integrated way’.12 These guidelines set out the range of options that should be provided to accommodate nomadism which are:


2.3 The National Traveller Accommodation Consultative Committee (NTACC)

The role of the National Traveller Accommodation Consultative Committee (NTACC), established under the Act, is ‘to advise the Minister in relation to any general matter concerning accommodation for travellers and any matter referred to it by the Minister.'13
In 2003 NTACC examined the level of provision for nomadism and expressed concern ‘that none of the seven14 councils examined had yet provided any transient sites’.15

In 2004, NTACC carried out a review of the Operation of the 1998 Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act16. As part of its review the NTACC drew attention to existing planning procedures for regulating the provision of transient sites given that such sites may be used only for weeks or months in each year and then revert to normal use. The lead-in time for determining an application for planning permissions was considered too long in this context and they believed that provision existed in Section 34 (4) (n) of the Planning and Development Act 2000 which allowed the grant of permission for a limited period each year.
Furthermore they believed that nothing in the public consultation process precluded a local authority from providing a transient halting site for a short period each year.
In line with this NTACC recommended the following: