Latest news with #PaveePoint
Yahoo
17-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Dublin goes green to celebrate St Patrick's Day
Green is the colour everywhere you look around Dublin this St Patrick's Day and you can hear accents from all over the globe. The festive atmosphere had been building in the city since daybreak and it is now in full swing with a huge parade in front of the President of Ireland Michael D Higgins. An estimated half a million people from home and abroad are watching thousands of people participating and performing in the colourful and very creative parade. The global visitors to the Irish capital are wearing all shades of green, against the sounds of Irish traditional music, local and international marching bands, and non-stop on-street entertainment. The parade is snaking its way along O'Connell street and onwards past Trinity College to St Stephen's Green. It includes more than 4,000 participants, including marching bands from around the world, performers, dancers and St Patrick's Day floats. The city was thronged throughout the weekend as revellers arrived early from all over the world to join the annual celebrations. A huge logistical operation has also been under way to prepare for the parade and the huge crowds. Before the parade, President Higgins and his wife Sabina travelled from Áras an Uachtaráin (official residence of the Irish president) to St Mary's Pro-Cathedral in the city centre where they attended Mass. The theme for this year's parade is 'eachtrai' (adventures), which aims to reflect the adventurous spirit of Ireland, highlighting community, diversity, and inclusion. A special pageant will celebrate 40 years of the Irish non-governmental organisation (NGO) Pavee Point, showcasing Irish Traveller and Roma traditions. The main parade continues into the afternoon but the international party here in the Irish capital will continue long into tonight. St Patrick's Day: What's happening and where St Patrick's Day festivities to take place across NI
BBC News
17-03-2025
- BBC News
St Patrick's Day: Dublin goes green to celebrate patron saint
Dublin is rapidly turning green as thousands of people stream onto the streets ahead of Monday's St Patrick's Day than half a million people are expected to be on the city's streets when the national parade begins in the Irish capital at will include more than 4,000 participants, including marching bands from around the world, performers, dancers, and colourful and creative St Patrick's Day city was thronged throughout the weekend as revellers arrived early from all over the world to join the annual celebrations. A huge logistical operation has also been under way to prepare for the parade and the huge Head of State, President Michael D Higgins, will lead the celebrations. Before the parade, President Higgins and his wife Sabina travelled from Áras an Uachtaráin (official residence of the Irish president) to St Mary's Pro-Cathedral in the city centre where they are attending a Celebration of the Mass, they will be the guests of honour at the theme for this year's parade is 'eachtrai' (adventures), which aims to reflect the adventurous spirit of Ireland, highlighting community, diversity, and inclusion.A special pageant will celebrate 40 years of the Irish non-governmental organisation (NGO) Pavee Point, showcasing Irish Traveller and Roma main parade will leave Parnell Square and travel along the city's premier street, O'Connell St, and proceed past the General Post Office (GPO), Trinity College, and St Patrick's Cathedral before finishing close to St Stephen's Green.
The Independent
25-02-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Trespass laws are preventing Travellers from practising lifestyle, report says
A Council of Europe commissioner has called for the repeal of Irish trespass legislation, arguing it infringes on Travellers' nomadic traditions. Human rights commissioner Michael O'Flaherty made the recommendation in a memorandum published Tuesday, addressing the human rights of Travellers and Roma in Ireland. O'Flaherty, an Irish human rights lawyer who assumed his role in April 2022, met with Traveller and Roma representatives in Dublin and Limerick last October. His memorandum highlights the 2001 Trespass Legislation and the Housing Miscellaneous Acts of 1992 and 2002, which criminalize trespassing on both private and public land. These laws can lead to the eviction and imprisonment of Travellers, and even the impoundment of their trailers. In many places, boulders have been erected by the local authorities in what used to be traditional halting sites for Travellers. The commissioner said these policies and the continued lack of provision of culturally appropriate accommodation prevents many Travellers from practising nomadism. Only an estimated 15-20% still live in mobile homes or trailers, often in substandard and overcrowded conditions such as on unofficial halting sites and without access to water or electricity. Mr O'Flaherty said the provisions preventing Travellers from practising their nomadic lifestyle should be repealed and measures should be taken to provide for 'culturally appropriate accommodation at local level'. He also called on authorities to address living conditions in halting sites, after 'consistent accounts' of poor maintenance, rodent infestation, inadequate sanitation and waste disposal systems, and unsafe or intermittent electrical installations. The commissioner's recommendation is in line with calls from the Traveller representative group Pavee Point. A similar recommendation was contained in a July 2019 report on Traveller accommodation prepared by an independent expert group for the Department of Housing. That group said the legislation should be repealed, in particular for publicly owned land until an appropriate network of transient sites has been established. The Government said a programme board has set up a sub-group to develop a protocol for a consistent approach for local authorities and Traveller households, taking account of the legislation for the removal of temporary dwellings. It said the Traveller Accommodation Act 1998 is supported through Housing For All and provides for Traveller-specific accommodation measures. Mr O'Flaherty said he was told during his visit that a review of the trespass legislation is not currently considered. He also said that 'structural anti-Traveller racism and anti-gypsyism' in Irish society constitutes one of the main barriers to progress in the access to rights of Travellers and Roma, 'permeating all aspects of their lives'. He recommended that Irish authorities effectively address over-policing of the Traveller and Roma communities, including through an accessible independent complaints body and an ethnic identifier throughout the criminal process to ensure the contributing factors to the over-representation of Travellers in Irish prisons are addressed. The commissioner also recommended that Irish authorities take measures to address racism against and bullying of Traveller and Roma children in schools, as well as ensure effective implementation of health and mental health plans. Equality Minister Norma Foley said the report was 'constructive', while her department said most of the recommendations in the report will be acted on under the National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy II 2024-2028. She said: 'While much has been done in recent years to address the issues faced by Travellers and Roma in Ireland, I am conscious that more remains to be done.' Ms Foley said her department was committed to implementing the inclusion strategy ensuring 'active participation' of Travellers and Roma in Ireland's social, economic, cultural and political life.
