Irlandzcy Trawelerzy i status mniejszości etnicznej

The Irish Travellers, a native, traditionally migratory group, were recently accorded formal recognition in the Republic of Ireland, ending more than three decades of political negation of Traveller ethnicity by the Irish authorities. Awarding the Travellers the status of ethnic minority should lead to changes in state policy, which previously perceived the Travellers and their way of life in terms of a social problem; above all, there should now be hope for a new, more equal social position for the Travellers in today’s increasingly diverse Ireland. The author discusses the mobilization of the Irish Travellers and the circumstances of their being awarded ethnic minority status. She also considers the Travellers’ attitudes to the question, on the basis of her own field work conducted among the Traveller community in Galway in western Ireland.