‘Stereotypes’ of Travellers in ‘Damo and Ivor’

THE new Irish film ‘Damo and Ivor: The Movie’ contains “racial stereotypes” in its depiction of members of the Travelling community, according to the Irish Film Classification Office (Ifco).

The movie starring Andy Quirke, which hits cinemas today, has been given a 15A rating. But the Ifco’s Ger Connolly specifically raised the matter of how Travellers are portrayed in it.

In his comments on the classification, he said the movie also contains strong sex references and situations and scenes of drug use.

The plot centres on how previously estranged brothers Damo and Ivor set out to try to track down their other long lost brother John Joe, who is a Traveller.

“Ifco’s classification advice is used to explain to the public the specific reasons for a film’s age rating,” Mr Connolly explained. “In the main, this will be because of one or a combination of the main classification issues: violence, drugs, sex and language.”

He added: “It might also be used to draw attention to part of a film’s content that has the potential to offend.”

Ruth Carter, producer of the film, said the character of John Joe had previously appeared in the series and they received nothing but positive comments about him.

“In the film, when John Joe discovers he is not a member of the Travelling community, he is absolutely devastated,” she said.