The co-director of the Travellers Rights group Pavee Point, Martin Collins has expressed concern about the anti-Traveller sentiments that led to the removal of the condolences section on RIP.ie for Padraig Nally.
Mr Collins told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland that wanted to convey his sympathise to the family, friends and community of Mr Nally, but he was concerned about the comments on RIP.ie and social media following the passing of Mr Nally.
Mr Nally had been “put on a pedestal” and had been “portrayed as a hero” while John Ward had been “vilified and demonised.”
“The people responsible for this vile commentary, their only agenda is to polarise, you know, the Traveller community and sow division and hatred. And we can't let that happen. And we won't let that happen.
“We all recall the events of 20 years ago, and they were very traumatic. And we do acknowledge that there was a lot of trauma caused to a lot of individuals. And I include Mr Nally, I know that he was traumatised and hurt as well. But, you know, I think it's time for us to move on and bring some closure to this.
"But our concern at this moment in time is the racist commentary, as I said, by those individuals whose only agenda is to polarise both the Traveller community and the settled community. And I think there's an obligation on all right minded, decent people to ensure that their agenda doesn't materialise.”
Mr Collins said it was unfortunate that anti Traveller sentiment was not a rarity. It was still quite prevalent on social media where there was commentary that perpetuated racism and stereotypes which only served to exclude and marginalise Travellers in Irish society.
“In this context, I would call on the tech companies to take more urgent action and respond faster in moderating the content on their platforms. I think we have failed in that regard. Not just failed in relation to racist commentary in online community, but on the commentary on other communities as well.
"So they have an obligation. They have a responsibility to step up to the plate and to moderate their content in a much more urgent fashion.”
