*RE-UPLOAD* Irish Travellers I ARTE.tv Documentary

watch yourself Patty Elder Patty some people romanticize Irish travelers imagining a free people living at one with nature back known um Gina make sure that she's tied safe but the reality a recent EU report ranked them as the poorest and most discriminated against minority in Europe foreign as much as the traveling people we're on that site there for a year right no showers no washing facilities no electric and yes with peace [Music] please in the north of England each year 10 000 Travelers and gypsies gather for four days at the largest gypsy fair in Europe welcome for three centuries these communities have been coming here from all over the United Kingdom Under the Republic of Ireland this is where Travelers celebrate their love of horses a Cornerstone of their culture [Music] as well as haggle over their prices [Applause] one of the sellers is Ned stoke [Music] he and his family wouldn't miss this event for the world from my bigger son his father Ned he's 11. he'll come all the way from Ireland over here so yes I want to get a four seven nine hours and we're here are you it's a way of life we love them I've been reared up with horses so my children will be worried about houses better than any iPhone uh no inside all day outside play with this get fresh air it give us a few minutes okay we'll get the harnesses though get your bride now on right around keep away from that horse well if you could kindly move them it would be very good you're not see this horses going mad pull them pull them hard away thank you thank you I'm gonna swivel in a second I need to swivel for sure to do for now [Music] 20 horses brought four of the planning to sell them all right nearly everything has a price would sell horse cart Jeep this one this one Caravan everything except the kids kids is not for sale but everything else there's a price on it the best place for selling horses is flush Lane [Music] [Applause] on this straight stretch of road the horses reached speeds of over 30 miles per hour this is the sales you have this is where everybody comes down and we're showing their horses and trying to sell them and some just here for sure completely sure um to show how good of a heart she is to want to race him or whatever just maybe just quiet for children one of men's horses is Galloping down the concrete road at top speed he's hoping this will impress buyers in me this is losing grip on them I don't know did he get water you get water he got lots of water this morning the horse quickly catches someone's eye it is handling is a tradition among Travelers just go live no good my man no good I'll get more from my friend requests foreign putting the words into your mouth centuries old tradition of selling horses is one of the legacies left over from the community's nomadic life Ned's father taught him this trade which has enabled him to earn a decent living one more but for most of the sixty thousand Travelers here Appleby is just a happy interlude for the rest of the year life is much more difficult recent laws have restricted their movement and there aren't many places for them to stay [Music] the berry family has settled illegally in Wexford in the south of Ireland in this vacant car park okay I'm gonna fraternal about therapy walking up to the top for Eternal author Helen come here won't you point on the site is 50 meters from Mary's Caravan she is a 65 year old grandmother will hold us so you come up to this you come up to this tab here about 50 times a day a carton of heart and carry it back down to the Caravans this is how this is how it gets the rock gets the water so it's a struggle in the wintertime you know coming up and down for to get the water and then you're afraid of the water because they this will have to this this does the Coke and then the clean and the washing up they had to repeatedly contact the local Council to get this step installed they are still waiting for electricity that's where we cook the food and then we want to wash up after dinner we we have to use that water into this dish wash up and pour the water outside we don't have any Shores or anything for to take away the water like these don't work no water in the Taps that's where we have to go for the water so it'll be just toilets in the Caravan but there's no electric to use them and then four portable loose not very hygienic you know it's only you push a button and they the disinfectant comes over it you know and the kids have there's no way up there to wash their hands after going to the toilets so that's that's your did that's your daily life you know Murray's daughter Helen is pregnant she's going to move in next door she and her husband are renovating their very first home oh this is gonna be a big room yeah and just making this as a big room the baby's caught on the clothes and stuff in here what are you doing are you doing the bedrooms next yeah very very nice oh that's lovely lovely job if we had electric now it'd be lovely it's the first time I have a such a big area you know what to do things I want to do because in a smaller Caravan that's too awkward for anything well coals and stuff you haven't got enough room they're so expensive you see you can't you can't bite them so my niece of mine made me she got a house and she gave me that Caravan and then I gave Helen this Helen of more room for about the baby Murray receives the minimum pension of 1 000 Euros per month her daughter barely receives more than that in benefits her husband is unemployed they have few possessions except for five ponies which they keep in the field next to them Beauty and that's her son and his name is Luke over here see where the waters so let me feed the horses three times daily four times daily and with um bread I have to double tie it the way the pony will get loose so we'll take it Freedom here instead of just getting getting knocked up in the house all day they said you're not allowed out I'd rather be here than skilled with the horses foreign but you have you have horror and horror and your others well we can put up a tent and can't wait behind their laughter lie's deep suffering their children struggle to integrate at school they are often shunned by classmates as well as their teachers when all the rest of the people is doing Big Workout just they put me in the back of the classroom and give me baby work and then make you draw fishes for five minutes for 10 hours and then as I live she's she's going on 11 years old and she gets paint and still in school at all the rest of each other learning how to read and race and you know and they and these are all just left there's no no there's nobody cares that's all that's going on with generations and generations My Sons used to go to school they give me a black bag they clean clean the yard clean the toilets and clean the school the very same as me self as I was going to school the very same treatment nothing don't change decades today the majority of Travelers drop out of school by the age of 16. in Ireland only eight percent go on to complete their a levels without any education it's difficult to find employment young Travelers quickly find themselves trapped in a cycle of poverty like Peter and Shayna 21 who live in Limerick in the west of Ireland they've ended up here at the edge of this roundabout with their two daughters scarlet and Rihanna blue for me what's uh for you they've been living here for five months come on baby quick in this minuscule Caravan come on the family is under constant threat of eviction and is waiting to be allocated social housing but it can take up to three years if I get this bed and if I keep pulling I get this and I put this go ahead feel the camera get this and put this here and I put the other one here so then it makes kind of a bed it's not comfortable really but it's a bed nothing works like like nothing it doesn't work you know it's just for electricity but there's nothing there you know electricity just decoration just to make it small little bit more homely uh like when I look out the window all I can see is a road and I can't really lived in the 90 page you know because it's very dangerous obviously it's around but right there on the cars goes around very fast so I'd be afraid if you ever got knocked down you know so we don't have jobs we never got no education we didn't have time to get education and it's unfortunately of the traveling people it's a like that that my little girl is going to be growing up into it's not very good for anyone's mental health really is it like Peter 83 percent of Irish travelers are unemployed he's tired of living a life without prospects he's suffered from several belts of depression I think like depression is like a balloon you know when you blow up a balloon until it burst you don't know how much it's going to take you know there was suicidal toxic I wanted to drive my car off a bridge into water they were discriminating against Travelers well not dead one or two of them are um I was just I wanted to drive my car into a bridge like you know into the water but I said no I can't watching my kids like Peter managed to get by this time around but the suicide rate among this community has become alarmingly High [Music] the EU reports that the suicide rate is seven times higher among Travelers than the rest of the population most of those who take their own lives are young men they are filling up the cemeteries like this one in Limerick where mag Casey's entire family has been buried over the course of the past decade this is my first cousin who is dead eight months now he died through suicide and it was only 27 years of age who was a good boy lovely heart lovely soul I used to change his nappies okay that boy should not be dead nobody should be dead 29 members of my family died through suicide a lot of kids and a lot of young men and women he's as young as 11. big tragedy for us as a family we get to see each other more at graveyards now than we do at any other family occasion unfortunately suicides lead to more suicides this is the Vicious Cycle mug Casey's family has fallen into the first time I experienced suicide is with my sister-in-law committed suicide so my my brother two years later committed suicide because he couldn't live without his wife and um they left four small children we have to them and in two years after that my other brother committed suicide because he couldn't live without my other brother yeah I think shock lived on my body for a long long time I don't think I ever got over the shock if the truth is best to be told I never got over the fact of losing why so many people are buried in the graveyard down to suicide is because of institutional racism discrimination prejudice and Irish Society dehumanizing us mug Casey has become a spokesperson for the traveler community her tragic family history has forced her to speak out other voices from the community are starting to be heard too today in Dublin hundreds of Travelers are gathered outside Parliament there is an urgent need for change starting with breaking down stereotypes they are accused of stealing cheating and leading off of other people these cliches can be found anywhere in the world but they are particularly deep-rooted here girls no girls can stay tall [Applause] the crowd is cheering for Eileen Flynn the first traveler to be elected as a senator two years ago under the age of 32 she's committed herself wholeheartedly to her community not only are you discriminated against you have internalized oppression externalize oppression it's so tough to be yourself and be a member of The Traveler Community you can't walk up the bleeding Street and somebody has something to say to you because just because you're a traveler one F3 in a second class citizens in this state or treat it as rubbish but Casey is of course present in the crowd she's the one who organized the protest with her Association that focuses on mental health issues among Travelers restoration to our community so um I just want to thank you again thank you thank you what can you do there is more here yeah exactly yes so you're just building it up you know I think it needs to be brought to European level now all the good connections [Music] I think unless we get into every dialogue and that the political leaders sit down with us and take off seriously because we can't continue to seeing the sorrow and pain that they're living on an everyday life there are even ministers who have come today Mack is going to speak to one of them Malcolm Noonan the minister for heritage for years the government has been trying to force travelers to settle down both deprived of their way of life they have become impoverished and marginalized I just think from today from from history for the last 50 years I mean the simulation policy you know it's not it hasn't worked no no it hasn't worked and it has done an awful lot of damage yeah and it's it's it's it's under my travel exactly we really want to to promote travel culture in our schools right across Society well that's it I think that's the set in the right direction we can always do more absolutely [Music] updating is that it has been inconsistent and sometimes there's some horse put in place there are programs put in place and then they're dropped where they don't continue so I think there needs to be a consistent approach needs to be led by us but it needs to happen with all agencies though the community seems to have succeeded in entering into a dialogue it lost their fight is far from Over The Travelers still have years of struggle ahead of them [Music] Johnny 32 has decided to fight [Music] he devotes all his energy to sport starting at 7am I like going in early in the morning because you feel better afterwards and obviously yeah it's good to um have concentration and get all the bad stuff out of your head so this is my fun this is my this one makes me happy so I have to keep doing it [Music] boxing is my Escape yeah boxing is is most traveled voice Escape I feel if I if I didn't box I'd be a very angry person and I know I'd fight a lot I don't know how to use the word it's not aggressive but I'm very um it wouldn't take a lot to upset me [Music] all my friends they are 14 15 and they try a beer and try a cigarette and sit leads on leads on leads on and now I look at them I don't really have any I don't have them no more most most of them are in jail the ones who are not in jail are probably divorced would have that are upset and what they what they quit in their life because they don't have anything to look up to someone on Jazz some of my dad's I have a lot of friends who died and there's more to life and just messing about you know to keep himself on the straight and narrow Johnny devotes most of his time to boxing he's moved to the codswalds in England to train [Music] he's been a professional boxer for four years now the Boating Champion is feared by all his opponents [Applause] I beat everybody up so no one wants to start off I could do it going back and finishing the job tomorrow time and his coach Roger isn't just any old coach she coached the first ever traveler winner in the 2014 World Championships don't get greedy control that back leg when you when you set that hook [Music] don't let it swing after you just keep shifting your height keep stepping your feet that's it don't close the distance keep the left hand in position it's better uh it's doing good it it's working on a few things that we've been working on on the pads and on the bag um it's just about we're alive when you're in with a live opponent just just keep working the same thing over and over again so it comes like second nature to you so when you're in a fight um you don't think about it finish up clean now finish cleaning on the Jab [Music] I don't have to stop hey what's up coach oh 42 weeks yeah you're right yeah the sharpest man an expo Champion but yeah this sport has a wrong tradition in the community Travelers have brought home many titles in the UK the best thing about boxing there's never any racism because you all respect each other people before it was harder because they didn't see a way out they didn't see they thought well I'm never going to get this far from where I'm from I'm a traveler how am I ever gonna be this Champion or how am I ever going to be a great footballer how am I going to be a great boxer I always get looked at different than everyone else and it's the truth but then you have people like Tyson Fury who showed away so it shows that we we're educated people it's not that we can just fight can talk it's very good world champion Tyson Fury doesn't make a secret of his heritage nicknamed the Gypsy King Fury is the hero of all travelers including Johnny when Johnny isn't in the ring he lives in this housing estate [Music] like half of the UK's gypsies he lives on a site that has been developed by local authorities [Music] there are around 50 people living here in houses or Caravans come on Jimmy jumps at the end big ones fast fast too slow way too strong life is hard all the residents admire Johnny especially the children who he trains whenever he can one two four shots six shots and a half past why do you want a box to be a champion You Want To Be A Champion you want to play Tyson Fury uh it's just goodness as well best sport in the world hard training keep your fit you get away from the cigarettes and the drink and bit to be a champion I suppose Johnny Works them hard because he knows that men grow up with a lot of pressure on their shoulders in this community bring some respect discipline morals it's a lot a lot of weight on his shoulders from a young age from being from being their age like all these kids here now he's 11 he's a 12. they've already been saving money from being eight or nine years old to earn money for a car and then when they get 16 a lot of these will probably be minus 16 then they have to save up to buy a home so it's hard for US dollar money straight away if we if we get a job sound on Friday and someone realizes we're Travelers and we go back down a Monday to do the job they don't want to do it no more it's not as if they hide it they'll blatantly tell you because you're our Gypsy you don't trust you so it's harder for a traveler man Johnny's dream is to become a champion one day but above all he wants these young people to have the same opportunities as other British people but he also wants them to keep the same Carefree spirit and sense of Pride they share when they are gathered together at Applebee one of the Traditions here is to take a new horse down to the water to wash it [Music] business has been good today for Ned he sold his four horses and bought a new Ned Jr is not about to break tradition [Music] he's heading straight down to the river no don't go in there too far ah he's used to them he's used to horses yes he's with him since he's a baby there's no problem handling them that's his new horse now he has to learn anyway in a couple of years time I will definitely be coming here with my own family and becoming her every year I won't change anything in a traveler's life [Music] I'm happy the way I am and I shouldn't have to change to suit everyone else thank you depression that's been put on for to change people is making our way of life disappear pressure from other people that doesn't can't understand what's going on can't appreciate what's going on but we're not trying to change them it's hard for Ned and his community to imagine their culture disappearing and not passing it on to their children it's also tough to face the risk of further young people taking their own lives nobody here wants to see another generation sacrificed [Music]

Channel: ARTE.tv Documentary

Views: 533,849

Keywords: arte tv, IRISH, ireland, irish travelers, irish travellers, irish travelers documentary, irish travelers 2022, irish travelers arte, irish travellers arte, irish travellers accent, irish travellers history, irish traveller horse, real stories full documentary, documentary - topic, european minority, irish minority, travellers, gypsy travellers uk, gypsy travellers documentary, irish travellers documentary, gypsy travelers documentary, irish gypsy, irish gypsies

Id: 2vKhhqVNd4c

Length: 31min 59sec (1919 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 16 2022