‘This behaviour is not inherent in our culture’
After a week of disorder on the streets of Galway, Pavee Point says:
THE feuding factions involved in a shocking violent incident in a Galway shopping centre car park last weekend are entering into tentative mediation talks, the Irish Mail on Sunday has learned.
Martin Collins, Pavee Point codirector, said the Athlone-based National Traveller Mediation Service is trying to intervene and ‘broker some discussions’.
‘I understand there is some work on that [mediation] taking place... over the weekend,’ Mr Collins told the MoS.
‘I obviously welcome that and I hope that the disputing parties will get involved and hopefully try and put the issue to bed.’
However, Mr Martin cautioned that attempts to bring both sides of the dispute into a mediation process are challenging.
‘Some work on mediation is happening’
‘I would say, any kind of peace process – if I can call it that, not to be too alarmist – talks can break down,’ he warned.
‘I think that is inevitable in some respects, but I would encourage people to stick with it and to keep on trying.’
Four people required treatment in hospital after a car collided with a group of people at a shopping centre on the Headford Road, Co. Galway, last Sunday.
A large number of people were involved in the car park altercation, which was filmed and widely shared on social media.
The incident was linked to an ongoing feud between two Traveller families in the Galway area.
A number of raids were carried out by gardaí this week across numerous areas in Galway following a spate of violence across the city. Gardaí seized several weapons and vehicles at Headford Road on Sunday evening.
A Garda spokesperson yesterday confirmed three more people were arrested in connection with the incident, bringing the total number of arrests to 15. A Garda public order unit is now on standby to deal with potential further violence.
Responding to public concern about the scale of the violence, Mr Collins said: ‘It is important that people don’t suggest this behaviour is inherent in our culture because that stereotype has been peddled and it is not acceptable.
‘It is not inherent in our culture – it is not inherent in our ethnicity.
‘These are just a number of individuals who are engaging in dangerous behaviour, and it is not representative of the Traveller community, so I hope the majority of the population will not further stigmatise Travellers because of a behaviour of a few. Those who are guilty need to be prosecuted and those who are innocent should not be persecuted.’
Asked why Pavee Point had not come out to condemn the violence before this, Mr Collins explained: ‘The situation is we didn’t want to be the first in the media. We have been a little bit reluctant to make any media comment.
‘We wanted the media to confirm whether or not it was members of the Travelling community and effectively, by us engaging with the media, we were doing that, so there is an issue here of principle. ‘I think The Pat Kenny Show was the first mainstream media outlet to reference the fact they were Travellers – I’m not aware of any other mainstream media. We think it is really unnecessary for people to emphasise the ethnicity of the people concerned.
‘It is totally irrelevant. It’s not an issue – it just so happens that they are Travellers.
‘Of course, this is in a wider context of antisocial behaviour and feuding right across the country and we have seen that in the North Inner City [in Dublin] in the last while where various incidents have taken place and some tourists have been attacked and I haven’t seen anybody in the mainstream media identifying their ethnicity as members of the settled community. I think there is an issue of ethics here and fair play, so we don’t think it’s really necessary in our view to emphasise the ethnic affiliation of those concerned – it’s irrelevant.’
Mr Collins urged the people involved in the feud to ‘exercise restraint’.
He told the MoS: ‘We don’t want to see any further escalations of tensions because there is a real potential of people being seriously hurt – or worse, some people potentially losing their lives – and we would call on the parties concerned to engage in mediation.
‘It’s in the public domain now that they are members of the Travelling community. I just hope that people won’t generalise and stereotype all Travellers as inherently violent. This is not representative of the Travelling community. The vast majority of Travellers are just getting on with their lives leading a peaceful life. So I hope people won’t generalise and use this as a stick to beat all Travellers with.’
Gardaí in Galway continue to appeal to those who were in the College Road and Headford Road areas in Galway, between 5.45pm and 6.45pm on Sunday evening, and observed any violent behaviour, to contact them. Individuals with camera footage from the area – including dash cam recordings – are urged to provide this material to the gardaí.
‘We think it is unnecessary to emphasise ethnicity’