Assessing the needs of the Irish Traveller community in Northern Ireland

David Glasgow, Irish Traveller policy and delivery manager in the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, charts the challenges and the rewards of developing a better way of evidencing Irish Traveller accommodation needs.

In 2003, The Housing (NI) Order (Article 125) transferred ownership of, and responsibility for, Irish Traveller serviced sites from district councils to the Housing Executive. This included the provision of any new sites required. 

Specifically, the Housing (NI) Order 1981 (Article 2816) provides that the Housing Executive: 

1. shall provide such caravan sites as appear to it to be appropriate for the accommodation of caravans of members of the Irish Traveller community, and 
2. may manage those sites or lease them to some other person. 

Article 87 of the order provides that the Housing Executive may acquire land: 

1. on which to construct caravan sites, 
2. which is in use as a caravan site, or 
3. which has been laid out as a caravan site.

Following the transfer of responsibilities, the Housing Executive developed a research project to survey Irish Traveller households across Northern Ireland in order to gather census type household information, satisfaction levels, current accommodation and future preferences. 

The research has been carried out roughly every five years since 2002 and has helped inform the development and provision of Irish Traveller accommodation over this period, including grouped housing, transit and serviced sites. The fieldwork is carried out by an independent researcher and the findings form the main basis of supplementary evidence used to inform future planning. 

The research seeks to: 

• Fill a gap in the absence of good quality, available administrative data
• Gauge views from Irish Traveller households regarding their current accommodation and the type and location of their preferred accommodation
• Inform the Irish Traveller Housing Needs Assessment to be undertaken by the Housing Executive
• Inform the Housing Executive’s Irish Traveller Accommodation Strategy.

The Housing Executive recognises that Irish Traveller needs are unique and as a nomadic group, it can be challenging to assess their needs. It is important that government agencies such as the Housing Executive are sensitive to the challenges and respond innovatively to meet the needs of this group.

The Housing Executive, as part of the implementation of the Irish Traveller Accommodation Strategy 2021-26, commissioned research into the development of a bespoke needs assessment methodology for Irish Travellers. The development of a new methodology is in the implementation stage and will give the Housing Executive a better way of evidencing Irish Traveller accommodation needs.

Current challenges in assessing Irish Traveller accommodation needs include:

• Potential demand can go unidentified as households can move on before being officially recorded
• Information gathering – Irish Travellers can prefer not to share information with government organisations
• Traditionally don’t apply in advance of seeking Irish Traveller specific accommodation in Northern Ireland which leads to gaps in data for future planning
• Improved/increased communication with Irish Travellers to ensure they understand services available and process by which to access services
• Irish Travellers unlikely to apply for sites in areas where sites don’t currently exist, therefore there may be latent demand. This leads to a lack of evidence of need in certain areas
• Public perception/stigma means that identifying land and taking through planning process can be difficult.

Addressing the above challenges could have a significant beneficial impact on the accommodation outcomes of the Irish Traveller community and ensure their needs are met.