News and events

The Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), launched the report Understanding attitudes to Travellers and Roma in Ireland on Tuesday 17 December 2024.

The event included a presentation of the key findings by report authors Frances McGinnity, Evan Carron-Kee and Anousheh Alamir, as well as a panel discussion of the implications. This report is part of a joint research programme on integration and equality funded by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth.

The event programme and presentation slides can be accessed here.

The research report, "A Community Needs Analysis with Traveller and Roma Students on Their Experiences of Higher Education: A Call to Action for Accountable and Transformative Policy and Practice Throughout the Higher Education System" was launched on Wednesday 7 May.

The full report is now available online and can be accessed here: https://doi.org/10.48460/vd15-nn04.

The research has been conducted by College Connect in partnership with the National Traveller’s Women’s Forum and supported by Pavee Point Traveller and Roma Centre. This Community Needs Analysis study has been completed by Traveller and Roma higher education students and graduates and is a peer-led, participatory, arts-based study designed by the communities, for the communities.

The Traveller Pride Week 2025 will take place from Monday 19 May to Friday 30 May 2025. The theme of this year’s Traveller Pride Week is ‘Empowering the Future: The Next Generation of Irish Travellers’. National and local events will take place around the country, celebrating and promoting Travellers’ contribution to every aspect of Irish life including arts, education, culture, community work, youth work, employment and enterprise, drama, sport, and music.

The National Traveller Concert will be held on Friday 23 May. This event will celebrate Traveller culture and identity as part of Traveller Pride Week, and will showcase Traveller music, art, spoken word storytelling and other art forms as well as artists who are allies to the Traveller community.

More information on Traveller pride Week 2025 can be accessed at https://www.travellerprideweek.org/.

Roma Civil Society Organisations Promoting EU Values, or ROVA for short, is a new EU-level funding opportunity designed to support Roma and pro-Roma civil society organisations from EU Member States to become more effective, connected, and resourceful in promoting the values of the European Union. The project is led by the ERGO Network (European Roma Grassroots Organisations) and partners and will run from 2025 to 2027. It is intended that up to 120 local Roma and pro-Roma civil society organisations and 15 national Roma coalitions across the EU member states will receive ROVA funding, subject to meeting the relevant criteria. Please note that this is the maximum number of organisations that will receive funding across all grant headings.

Three types of grants are available under the ROVA initiative:

• Up to €30,000 for Roma/pro-Roma NGOs in Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Spain, Czechia, or Slovakia (2nd round: €25,000)
• Up to €20,000 for Roma/pro-Roma NGOs in other EU Member States
• Up to €15,000 for national Roma coalitions (one round only)

Under the initiative, qualifying organisations will receive both financial support and a tailored capacity-building programme to help them:

• Advance access to fundamental rights
• Promote equality and anti-discrimination
• Encourage civic engagement and democratic participation
• Raise awareness of the human rights situation of Roma
• Improve monitoring of national Roma strategies
• Foster dialogue between Roma communities and authorities

In accordance with terminology used by the European Commission, Roma encompasses a range of diverse groups, including Roma, Sinti, Kale, etc. as well as Traveller populations. Please see detailed information in the Application Guides included in the online information.

Eligible organisations are to submit their applications directly to the ROVA project online. The window for applications opened on 5th June 2025 and will close on 5th August 2025. As the Department of Children, Disability, and Equality will have no involvement in the running of the project, please refer all questions on the project and application process directly to the ERGO Network.

Further details can be found on a dedicated website here: rovaproject.org. For more information on the ERGO Network, please follow the following link: New funding for Roma Civil Society in the EU – ERGO Network.

The Traveller and Roma Policy team would like to bring to your attention the upcoming Civil Service Traveller and Roma Placement Programme, as led on by the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration. This is an important initiative under the National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy II Action Plan (Action 34 under theme 5, Employment and Enterprise).

The Placement Programme will take place over a 12-month period and is aimed exclusively at members of the Traveller and Roma communities. Participants will be employed at both a Clerical Officer (CO) and Executive Officer (EO) grade level in positions available across multiple Civil Service Departments nationwide, while a pathway to permanency has been added to the Programme following the success of its pilot iteration in 2022/2023. This will allow participants who successfully complete the placement to apply for a permanent position in the same Department through a confined competition.

The competition will open for applications in September 2025 and will remain open for approximately 3 weeks. Candidates will be shortlisted in October and interviews will be held in November, with a view towards participants beginning their placement in Q1 2026.

Participants will have the opportunity, on a voluntary basis, to avail of the support of the two Programme Liaison Officers: one for the Roma community and one for the Traveller community. Rudolf Simonic (rudolf.simonic@pavee.ie; Pavee Point Traveller and Roma Centre) will be the Roma Programme Liaison Officer and Michael Power (michael.power@involve.ie; Involve CLG) will be the Traveller Programme Liaison Officer. As Liaison Officers, both are available to arrange and deliver information sessions on the Programme and, when the competition has opened, regional workshops to provide practical assistance and tailored support to potential candidates who might wish to apply.

Government Departments, local and national Traveller and Roma organisations, and organisations working with Travellers and Roma are encouraged to promote and raise awareness of this targeted employment opportunity, particularly those organisations that are involved in the delivery of employment initiatives.

More information will be shared as it becomes available.