The Right to Roam: Travellers and Human Rights in the Modern Nation-State

Nomadic groups and sedentary society have been in conflict throughout the ages and the conflict continues to this day. For the most part it is nomadic groups who have been the losers in these conflicts. The idea of human rights has traveled around the world in response to some of the great conflicts of our time. ‘The Right to Roam- Travellers in the Modern Nation State’ examines the right of nomadic groups to maintain a way of life that is contrary to the drive toward sedentarisation and modernisation. If human rights are to exist, one approach to the derivation of rights is that they are to exist as protectors of the autonomy of individuals. When the autonomy of individuals is threatened by restrictions on their liberty then the protection of human rights is required. For Travellers in Ireland, restrictions on the freedom to maintain a Travelling lifestyle have consequences for members of the Travelling community. The Right to Roam- Travellers in the Nation State’ explores the impact of recent legislation such as the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act of 2002 on Travellers in modern Ireland and whether progress driven be sedentary society should be required to include the needs of nomadic groups.