Nomadic life for Irish Travellers 'at risk' over site shortages

The nomadic life of Irish Travellers is "at risk" in Northern Ireland with members of the community feeling pressured to move into "bricks and mortar" housing, a support group has said.

The number of sites and pitches in Northern Ireland has "reduced drastically" in the past 20 years, according to the Craigavon Travellers Support Committee.

It added that the issue was "compounded" by "well below par" provisions on remaining sites.

The Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE), which is responsible for the accommodation needs of travellers, said it is investing in and future-proofing their way of life.

It is currently consulting the public on a draft strategy for the next five years on traveller accommodation.

Meanwhile, the Craigavon Travellers Support Committee also criticised Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly for contacting the police over roadside travellers during the summer, suggesting she should have found them somewhere suitable to stay instead.

One traveller at a site in Craigavon, who wanted to remain anonymous, told BBC News NI that "no one cares" about them.

They added: "It's got to the point where we just put up with it.

"We feel pressured to move into a house but that isn't our way of life. That would be horrific for mental health.

"Personally I feel no one improves it because we're travelling people."

Lisa Hogg, from the Craigavon Travellers Support Committee, described some families using shower units on sites with sewage coming up from under the shower tray.

She added that provisions have led to families becoming homeless or displaced.

"It has been frustrating, it has impacted health and mental health. We've seen a huge number of families moving off, out of the area because of the provision here, they just can't do it.

"I think there's a huge misconception that travellers don't pay rent and rates if they're in social housing. They are liable for rents and rates and it is claimed for and paid in the way that all social housing is."

Hogg added that nomadic traveller families were having their ability to maintain that lifestyle "slowly eradicated".

"The right to travel is a protected characteristic of Irish travellers, but there are no provisions in the north to allow that to happen."

The Housing Executive oversees accommodation needs for that community, as well as providing, managing or leasing caravan sites for travellers, who pay rent like social housing tenants.

As of June 2026, the NIHE provided and managed a range of sites including two transit/emergency halting sites, two serviced/permanent sites and seven grouped, social housing sites.

Three sites - based in Londonderry, Strabane and Belfast - have closed in the last decade.

In a statement, the NIHE explained this was due to "specific circumstances" in those locations including health and safety concerns, site viability issues and the proposed acquisition of land for major infrastructure projects such as the A5.

"We recognise that every site matters. When a site is lost, it can reduce accommodation choice for Irish Traveller families and communities," the NIHE said.

Currently under consultation, the draft Irish Traveller Accommodation Strategy 2026–2031 sets out the NIHE's objectives, including "to improve the provision and standard" of sites.

"The Housing Executive remains committed to exploring opportunities to maintain and increase accommodation choice for Irish Travellers where feasible and where needs are identified," NIHE added.

"Our ambition is not simply to provide accommodation. It is to support the Irish Traveller way of life by ensuring that accommodation choice, cultural identity and community connections are recognised and respected."

In a response to the consultation, the Equality Commission said the strategy was an important opportunity "against a backdrop of declining traveller-specific accommodation and evidence of poor conditions on existing sites".

It said that at the time of writing only four Housing Executive sites were operational compared to seven in 2018 and 16 in 2009.

The Equality Commission also called on "stronger commitments" around Irish Traveller accommodation as well as "clear targets, timescales and resource commitments".

Meanwhile, the Craigavon Travellers Support Committee has criticised Northern Ireland's deputy first minister over her comments she made during the summer.

In August, Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly posted a video on social media to say she had contacted the police over travellers parked at Sprucefield Centre, outside Lisburn.

In the video, she said: "Just to reassure people we have been in contact already with the PSNI and Translink who operate the site, raising those concerns about what is happening.

"It is not legal to camp here overnight," the Lagan Valley assembly member added.

While she said in the video she had contacted Translink and the PSNI, it is not known whether she also took steps to find alternative accommodation for the travellers.

Speaking to BBC News NI, Kelly Laverty from Craigavon Travellers Support Committee was critical of this, and said "she should have contacted the statutory authority to highlight these people have nowhere to go".

BBC News NI has approached Emma Little-Pengelly through both the Executive Office and Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) for a response.

Prof Michelle Norris, from University College Dublin, has been on an expert panel for the Irish government looking at accommodation in the Republic of Ireland. She said accommodation is central to Irish Travellers' "identity as an ethnic group".

"So having access to accommodation that will facilitate their nomadic tradition is central to their identity as a traveller," she added.

Norris said it's not just about having "adequate" accommodation.

"It's also about accommodation that's appropriate for their ethnic identity and traditions.

"Demand for traveller specific accommodation, halting sites and group housing schemes, is falling."

Each year, local authorities in the Republic of Ireland undertake an assessment of social housing need, which are then compiled into a nationwide report.

"We found in the latest figures from 2025 that around 95% of travellers actually want standard housing in a housing estate," Norris said.

"I think that reflects changing aspirations among younger households.

"But that doesn't mean that travellers who want traveller-specific accommodation shouldn't be facilitated and we know that lots of households who do want that type of accommodation can't get access to it."