merrion street

David Stanton TD, Minister of State for Justice with special responsibility for Equality, Immigration, and Integration today launched the report “Projectos Romano: a Study of Roma Communities in Balbriggan”. The report examines the socio-economic situation of the Roma population in Balbriggan and is a collaborative initiative between Cairde and Musicantia.
The Minister noted the positive work undertaken by Cairde and how it is “working to reduce health inequalities and to support the participation of minority communities in enhancing their health.”
The Minister said he was pleased that the Report welcomed the efforts by the Central Statistics Offices to identify how many Roma live in Ireland and encouraged the Roma people to facilitate the accurate collection of these statistics so that the Government can help them in a focused and culturally-sensitive way.
The Minister highlighted that a Roma Committee has been set up by his Department and thanked those from the Roma Community who applied to be a member of the Committee. Progress with the new National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy is also underway and it is expected that the Strategy will be implemented from the end of this year, until 2020.
Speaking about Musicantia, the Roma-led initiative, the Minister acknowledged how it actively promotes integration between their own and other communities through music, language and the culture of the Roma people. The Minister said “while it is vitally important that you integrate into Irish Community, it is also important that you continue to value your own heritage and history... It would be interesting for more Irish people to hear about Roma culture and heritage in a positive way.”
The Minister said that it was important that Ireland’s sixteen Education and Training Boards provide tailored training courses to help new communities, such as Roma people in Ireland, to acquire useful skills and said “where appropriate courses are available, I would also fully encourage you to attend them and to gain the most you can from them”.
In launching the Report the Minister concluded “I would like to launch Projectos Romano and to wish you well for the future. I look forward to working with many of you to ensure that you become fully integrated into our society and that you feel true, warm Irish welcome for which this country is famous.”