This paper traces the development of discursive themes regarding Irish Travellers since the 1950s, and how these themes have informed Ireland's interaction with the traveller community, shaping political action, policy and legislative developments. The paper highlights the simultaneous maintenance and marginalisation of the Traveller Community, creating a definitional 'other' in the process of constructing an Irish national identity.
This working paper has been developed from Ina's Masters Dissertation. Students in the MSc in Migration Studies receiving a distinction for their thesis are invited to publish a modified version as an IMI and COMPAS joint working paper.