OVER a dozen proud members of the Traveller community graduated during the University of Limerick’s (UL) winter conferring ceremonies, marking the largest group of Irish of travellers to graduate from an Irish university ever.
13 women were conferred with postgraduate diplomas and Masters degrees in Sociology, 11 of those connected with the Limerick Traveller Network (LTN).
Just 4.7 per cent of Travellers in Ireland have a third-level education in comparison to 47.7 per cent of the general population, and just two per cent hold a degree.
Among the graduates was LTN co-founder Olive O’Reilly, who left school at the age of 12 before returning to education in 2006 to complete a diploma in Women’s Studies at UL before embarking on her Masters in 2024.
Ms O’Reilly highlighted the importance of third-level for members of the Traveller community, saying: “Of the 11 women who completed the Masters programme at UL, one was already in employment, and four graduates have since secured employment, highlighting the direct impact of education on achieving employment and independence.”
Dr Sindy Joyce, course director of the MA in Sociology (Youth, Community and Social Regeneration) course at UL, became the first Irish Traveller to graduate with a PhD in Ireland when she was conferred with her doctorate from UL in 2019.
Dr Joyce said: “As a Traveller, an academic, and course director … I am immensely proud of all my students graduating.”
The UL Mincéir/Traveller Programme was created in 2023 to ensure the educational aspirations of Mincéir/Travellers were supported. It is led by the UL Access Office.
Based on the principle of co-creation, the programme supports are designed and developed based on the needs identified by the Traveller community.
In 2024, a collaboration was established between UL and the Limerick Traveller Network (LTN), a community-led network of Traveller representatives from across Limerick.
14 women from eight Traveller sites and two standard housing areas in Limerick were central to the work of the LTN with education identified early on as a key priority.