Dale Farm

I've just finished watching a BBC documentary about the Dale Farm eviction. Only if you've been living on the moon could you have missed any of the recent rise to notoriety Irish travellers have experienced. From the highly addictive Big Fat Gypsy Wedding series to individual success's such as the recent BB winner Paddy Doherty, their lives and culture have been a national source of entertainment and intrigue. I have found myself torn between respecting their way of life, morals and ideals to struggling with their lack of integration and contribution within the society they are willing to take from. Its a difficult one to wrestle with but the Dale Farm drama stirs up an uneasy feeling of a community forced into an impossible dilemma in a cold and ruthless world. Their dilemma illustrates how the people that run this country insist on promoting equality for all its residents, the term 'one rule for one and not for another' was frequently used by MP's and politicians when justifying their motives behind pushing the eviction through. I hate the rigidity (is this a word?) we live in, chained to a routine of doing things by the book, trapped in our own rules and regulations. The travellers appear reject this way of life and to gain strength from each other which encourages a 'us against the world' mentality. My fear is that we will be too late in realising the importance of preserving the diversity of cultures that currently exist within our country. Our community could learn a lot from the travellers who hark back to a way of life we left a long time ago in return for the faceless, commercial, crazy paced word that we have created for ourselves. The traveller way of life certainly seems a poorer deal for women but they seem happy enough in a simpler, role defined existence mainly involving caring for the home and family. On a personal level one of my first jobs was as a receptionist at a caravan park. Two months in I was promptly sacked when I took two six week bookings for tourer pitches from a couple of friendly dark haired, irish gentlemen, ooops. My father-in-law's worst nightmare features his beautiful green fields and a gaggle of white caravans so I guess there's always two sides to every story. I welcome your points of view, Kat x