Through an Impact Grant from The Community Foundation for Ireland a new network to promote improved mental health services for Travellers was launched last week. The National Traveller Mental Health Network will advocate for improved services and seek recognition as a consulting body by policy makers and service providers.
In 2017 The Community Foundation for Ireland commissioned the National Traveller Survey and found that mental health is a key aspect of life that is perceived to have gotten a lot worse over the past 5 years, with 90% of Travellers agreeing that mental health problems are common among the community. It also found that 82% of the community have been affected by suicide and 44% of those affected in their immediate family have also experienced suicide in their wider family.
A report on the Future of Mental Health Care published in 2018 by the Joint Oireachtas Committee acknowledged that poverty, poor housing and socio economic factors as well as prejudice and discrimination contribute to a mental health crisis in the Traveller community that sees suicide account for 11% of all Traveller deaths – a rate that is six times the national rate.
This new programme, The National Traveller Mental Health Network is a collective of Traveller organisations and individuals across Ireland with the aim to develop a collective space that is Traveller community led, where local, regional and national Traveller mental health issues are highlighted discussed and addressed.
Mags Casey, from Tipperary, vice-chair of the new network, is quoted by RTE saying “that the causes of mental health issues affecting Travellers are complex. Clearly, the issues that affect all Travellers - such as racism and exclusion, matters relating to identity, sexuality, addiction, as well as employment, education and accommodation - have a profound impact on the community's mental health.”
"Layered on top of that are factors such as stigma around mental health challenges within the community and lack of culturally appropriate and properly resourced services to tackle the Traveller community's mental health challenges.” The full RTE article can be found here.
This grant was provided as part of The Community Foundation for Ireland’s commitment to support marginalised communities and ethnic minorities. The Community Foundation for Ireland has had an invested interest in supporting Traveller’s in Ireland as this group is often left out of government funding and excluded from mainstream mental health services for a number of different reasons.
Open grant rounds were run in 2017 and 2016 to provide support to Travellers along with a number of Impact Grants and Donor Advised Grants and we will continue to support this marginalised group in the future.