Thomas McCann is a counsellor, PhD Scholar, Traveller activist, and the Director of the Traveller Counselling Service. Our readers may have seen him recently as he was featured prominently in the RTE documentary Patrick: A Young Traveller Lost. In this interview, we spoke with Thomas about Mental Health and societal issues that affect the Traveller community. Here, he offers his perspective on various issues, including the prevalence of anti-Traveller discrimination in modern Ireland.
Impact and change
With wide-ranging answers and discussions surrounding the different issues impacting the Traveller community, Thomas provides a complex analysis of Mental Health within the community. Speaking about the impact of the documentary about Patrick McDonagh on the public, Thomas says, “I do think it had an impact. Unfortunately, they’re short-lived impacts.”
Never one to take a simplistic view of any subject, Thomas spoke of the importance of taking action in response to a movement for reform, stating that “a lot of the time, unless there’s real action taken around something, there’s no long-term change.”
Despite this, he remains hopeful that the documentary may have had a broader impact on policymakers, saying, “I wouldn’t be dismissive of the impact that it had in terms of how we build on that or how we change that”.
Looking at the challenges
With multiple factors impacting the general mental health of the traveller community, Thomas spoke candidly about the obstacles facing the cause of positive change. “Well, it’s been a real struggle for starters; funding is always challenging. Getting the funding for Traveller Mental Health has been one of the challenges.” Thomas stresses the importance of not only promoting positive mental health within the Traveller community, underlining the importance of “looking at some of the challenges that lead to poor mental health, and if you look at some of the key drivers, like racism for instance, that the Traveller community face.” Thomas also spoke about the need for culturally inclusive Mental Health services and how it is challenging for the community to move forward without adequate support. “It’s challenging for the community to address some of the issues you know and support the community in linking to mental health services.”
Rising crisis of Mental Health issues
Thomas’ view on the situation regarding suicide is that it has worsened drastically in the past 30 years. “I think it started in the mid 1990’s”. He references pieces of research which show this, such as the research carried out by Mary Rose Walker, who identified that “Traveller suicide was three times higher than in the settled population.” Thomas himself identifies different pieces of legislation which have had a negative impact on the Mental Health of the Traveller community. “The Anti-Trespass Legislation, which prevents Travellers from being nomadic and from travelling, came in during that time, so we see a number of things which came in during that time that tallies with that.”
Thomas reinforces the point that the beginning of this century has seen a rise in the crisis of Mental health within the community, saying, “We begin to see that increase, and suicide is only one aspect of that.”
In the Age of Social Media
Within the context of the social media age, there are pros and cons for individuals of all ages, and Thomas is hesitant to say that it provides an escape from the issues in everyday life. “I think there are pros and cons, you know; I think there are some positive aspects to it, and I think there are downsides as well.
When it wasn’t there, you couldn’t communicate as readily. Now you can’t escape the communication; it’s 24/7.” Thomas continues, noting that there are two sides to the coin of social media: one is mainly positive, and one has the potential for negative consequences. “I think the bullying side of it, and the intimidation side of it, and the racism that is expressed toward Travellers and other groups.
We see that with the rise of the far-right in Ireland.”
Thomas expresses the need for accountability on social media platforms and legislation that protects people. “Start a conversation about Travellers on social media and see what happens. People think they can do what they want, but the consequences for the people they’re saying that about aren’t seen.”
A Service for Travellers Provided by Travellers
Thomas speaks with pride that the Traveller Counselling Service is provided by Travellers, for Travellers, and therefore, they can provide a service which allows the community to voice their needs. “My main goal was to respond to some of the Mental Health needs in the community and to provide good quality counselling free of charge, culturally appropriate counselling.”
Power dynamics are a pressing concern for Thomas, who is interested in community solidarity, which can lead to the manifestation of change that can be felt throughout the community. “This is a Traveller Service, supported by members of the settled community, not the other way around”. For Thomas, this is a hugely important aspect of his goals, providing services that directly engage with the community’s needs holistically. “We have quite a lot of engagement; in the counselling section, we’re seeing people from 17 different counties”.
Racism at the core
For Thomas, many issues need to be responded to, and they are linked by anti-Traveller discrimination, which must be dealt with directly. “The core cause of the exclusion and the discrimination and poor conditions is anti-Traveller racism, and that’s what needs to be addressed if we’re going to get out of it”. Never one to miss out on the wider issues affecting communities, Thomas notes how this discrimination and exclusion is being felt internationally, saying that similar racist ideologies are having massively negative effects on “Roma and other groups across Europe”.
Thomas’ message is clear: deal with issues directly within communities while also focusing on raising awareness regarding the factors causing these issues to become so common.
Change from within the community.
In relation to the future of approaches to mental health within the traveller community, Patrick mentioned the importance of the Traveller Mental Health Day on the 8th of October and the imperative nature of communities’ bringing about change from within. “We can’t wait for others to offer us that change, you know, that’s not gonna happen.”
For Thomas, societal change at a wider level is required to assist all suffering communities. Still, he hopes solidarity can be achieved through different power dynamics. His Traveller Counselling Service achieved this by first organising its own structure from within and then drawing in key stakeholders to assist it in carrying out its vision.
