Bulletin readers may recall the school admission criteria case Stokes, where the Christian Brothers College in Clonmel successfully appealed a decision of the Equality Tribunal that found its admission criteria were indirectly discriminatory against Traveller children.
Mary Stokes, on behalf of her son John, appealed the Clonmel Circuit Court decision to the Irish High Court with the assistance of the Irish Traveller Movement (ITM) Independent Law Centre. Cormac O'Dulachain SC appeared for Mrs Stokes, with Vivian Meacham BL (through the Bar Council's Voluntary Assistance Scheme) appearing as junior counsel.
The High Court ruled that a school admission policy that prioritised former pupil's children did not lead to particular discrimination against Travellers. The Stokes family had argued that the school's policy breached the Equal Status Act. Justice Patrick McCarthy in the High Court upheld the Circuit Court's decision and commented that the discrimination was not suffered by Travellers in particular, as others were in the same position.
ITM Independent Law Centre Managing Solicitor, Siobhán Cummisky said that the organisation was "disappointed with the outcome ... it is now time for a more inclusive education system in Ireland." She commented the school's admission policy "compounds the past discrimination suffered by Travellers and carries it through to the next generation."
Meanwhile, the Irish Traveller Movement in Britain has filed a complaint with the BBC over a television report which alleged that Travellers have run a multimillion-euro slavery ring in Sweden and Norway which has exploited vulnerable British men for nearly a decade.
Although the report was primarily based on a 2010 Swedish human trafficking report which revealed over 26 cases where British nationals were forced to work in Sweden by Travellers, allegations of similar nature were made against Irish Travellers and arrests were made in different parts of Britain subsequent to police raids.
Fr Joe Browne, chairman of the Irish Traveller Movement in Britain commented that "there is an undercurrent to all of this that is trying to associate Travellers with slavery. The ethnicity of people should not matter. If this is going on, then people should be prosecuted regardless of where they come from."
Click here to read the full judgment.
Click here to see a piece by the Irish Times on the Stokes decision.