Irish Travellers Movement

The Development of Traveller Tenant Participation in The Management of Accommodation

ITM 2001

Irish Traveller Movement (ITM)

The Irish Traveller Movement was founded in November 1990. It is a national network of organisations and individuals working within the Traveller community. The ITM consists of a partnership of Travellers and settled people committed to seeking full equality for Travellers in Irish society. This partnership is reflected in all ITM structures.

The Irish Traveller Movement was formed to be a national platform, through which Travellers and their organisations are enabled to:

* highlight the issues faced by Travellers and to press for real solutions.
* debate ideas and formulate and promote culturally appropriate initiatives.
* provide those active at a local level with support and solidarity.
* develop alliances at national level.
* Challenge the many forms of individual, structural and institutional racism with which Traveller have to deal.

The Irish Traveller Movement has in its membership over 80 Traveller organisations from all parts of the island of Ireland, and extends to contact with Traveller groups in Britain.

The ITM works specifically on accommodation issues. It provides a range of supports to Traveller organisations on accommodation issues and lobbies and campaigns on these to effect change in the accommodation situation of Travellers. The ITM develops a range of policy support initiatives on Traveller accommodation. This document is one such support.

For further information contact:

David Joyce & Gr?inne O'Toole,
Accommodation Officers,
Irish Travellers Movement,
4-5 Eustace Street,
Dublin 2.
Tel: (01) 679 6577
Fax: (01) 6796578
E-mail: itmtrav@indigo.ie

The Document

This document is aimed at Traveller organisations and local authorities. It attempts to set the context and meaning of tenant participation from a Traveller perspective. It can be used as a resource by the local authority and Traveller groups to assist in the development of a shared understanding of Traveller tenant participation in accommodation management.

The first section will outline the background to Traveller tenant participation in accommodation management and the definition and key concepts underpinning it. Section two will set out the framework for Traveller tenant participation that is emerging and the key components needed to make the initiatives work. The third section will set out the stages in developing Traveller tenant participation approaches and the outcomes that can be achieved using this approach. The final section will outline what needs to happen to put in place these approaches.

This document will concentrate on Traveller tenant participation initiatives in Traveller specific accommodation. However, there is a real need to target Traveller tenants in local authority housing to participate in mainstream tenant participation foras. Many of the principles and practices referred to in this document are transferable to Traveller tenant participation in mainstream housing.