Celebrate community work with Roma
Pavee Point Traveller and Roma Centre (‘Pavee Point’), held a national event to celebrate community work with Roma in Ireland, including the organisation’s work with Ukrainian Roma refugees. The event, which took place the week of International Roma Day (April 8), was opened by Minister for Equality, Norma Foley.
“This event is about celebrating positive achievements in our Roma community while continuing to push for a better future," said Gabi Muntean, Roma Community Worker, Pavee Point. “Community development is a responsive and collective tool. It sees projects build trust with Roma in Ireland who are often marginalised, and experience racism, discrimination, poverty and human rights violations.”
Throughout the event, attendees heard from Roma workers who reflected on achievements and what is further needed to promote Roma rights in the future.
Suzanne Nolan, Regional Roma Health Lead, HSE Dublin and South East, was centrally involved in the design of a pilot Tipperary Roma Accommodation Project. The pilot project has the overall aim of improving the health outcomes of Roma living in insecure and/or unsuitable housing in County Tipperary and is one of a range of Roma projects in the South East.
Speaking at the event, Suzanne Nolan, said: “Our wider project had its origins in reaching out to the Roma community during the Covid-19 pandemic. The local authority, HSE, and Youth Work Ireland, used a partnership approach to raise awareness and address the adverse social determinants of health faced by the Roma community particularly in relation to adequate accommodation including insecurity of tenure, poor housing conditions, homelessness and overcrowding.”
Opening the event, Minister for Equality, Norma Foley, said: “Roma are the largest ethnic minority in Europe, with a rich history and culture. This week, we celebrate the culture and heritage of the Roma community living across Ireland. The National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy II 2024 – 2028 aims to address the disadvantage, discrimination and inequalities faced by Travellers and Roma across a wide range of indicators, including in terms of health, education, employment and accommodation.”
Pavee Point also launched a special report on its work with Ukrainian Roma refugees, in collaboration with Donegal Travellers Project. Pavee Point worked closely with the Department of Justice, as well as the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC), to address barriers to accessing Temporary Protection, and the situation has improved since 2022. 2025 has seen the need to support Roma through new regulatory changes impacting Ukrainian refugees such as the renewal process for Temporary Protection.
Pavee Point has worked closely with the relevant Government departments, agencies and other civil society actors, to ensure that the specific needs of Ukrainian Roma are considered at national and local levels resulting in real, positive outcomes.
“This event showcases the important work that’s being undertaken on the ground by Roma workers in partnership with a range of Government and State agencies,” said Lynsey Kavanagh, Co-Director, Pavee Point. “It’s really important that this is built on with further investment in community development infrastructure. This is vital to address the rights of Roma in Ireland.”