Stereotyping Irish Travellers: Popular cultural identity and ethnocentrism in recent Media

This essay intends to look at the issue of Stereotyping, particularly involving the Travelling Community in modern Irish Society. The essay looks to define the practice, examine its causes and its potential consequences, including prejudice, discrimination and racism. We also look at issues of identity, ethnocentrism and recognition of ethnic minority status, which are prevalent in modern Irish society towards the Travelling community. The plight of Irish Travellers is briefly examined, focusing on the various changes in policy over the past 50 years, their representation in the various media and their fight to be recognised as culturally distinct from the dominant culture. There is extended analysis of recent studies and reports, illustrating more modern or ‘sophisticated’ forms of stereotyping and its ramifications, such as Tokenism and Aversive Racism. We look at some examples of successes in bridging the gap between the Travelling Community and the general Irish population and draw the conclusion that in order to attain the level of Intercultural Communication desired, it is necessary to avoid over-simplification of one’s environment and to continue to attempt to eradicate the development of stereotypes in our culture, particularly the Travelling Community.