Senator Eileen Flynn Senator Eileen Flynn became the first member of the Traveller community to chair a session of Seanad Éireann on Monday, a move which has been welcomed by the parish of the Travelling People.
Ms Flynn is the first member of the Traveller community to serve in the House of the Oireachtas.
The parish is “very impressed” by the community’s recent advances in politics, parish chaplain Fr Paul O’Driscoll told The Irish Catholic newspaper.
Due to disadvantages in the community, careers in politics have been “quite a rare thing,” Fr O’Driscoll said.
“I think it’s rare enough to find members of the Traveller community who have the education and the confidence that would be needed to move in those circles, because there is so much disadvantage in the community, so it would be a rare find,” he said.
Despite this, there is an “increasing energy” to get involved in politics, Fr O’Driscoll said.
“There is definitely an increasing energy to not hand over the future to other people, but to be involved in trying to assist the evolution of better conditions for the community.
“More and more, there’s the hope that that wouldn’t be left to other people to do for them. They want to be on-board with those developments.”