In this episode of Stories from Foster Care, Niamh is speaking with Elizabeth Ward and Bridget Power, Traveller women who are family access workers at Exchange House Ireland National Travellers Service in Dublin.

In a wide-ranging and illuminating conversation about the experiences of Traveller children in care, they touch upon their own upbringing as Travellers, and the activists and community and family members who inspired them. The conversation turns to the underlying discrimination in Irish society against Travellers, which results in a plethora of negative effects on families and children. Elizabeth and Bridget highlight the critical importance of cultural awareness among the settled fostering community, so that traveller children are not denied an experience of their cultural identity. They describe how a great source of cultural awareness for children and families, both Traveller and settled, is the children’s book The Fairy Queen written by Elizabeth’s mother, writer Chrissie Donoghue Ward.

To close the conversation, Elizabeth reads one of her mother’s poems, written for her daughter at a time when she was facing challenges in school.

Exchange House Ireland National Travellers Service can be contacted at: https://www.exchangehouse.ie/ Phone: 01 872 1094 or Email: [email protected]

The Fairy Queen by Chrissie Donoghue Ward is illustrated by Monika Mitkute and published by Skein Press and Little Island. It is available to buy directly from Skein Press or at bookshops nationwide. https://skeinpress.com/product/the-fairy-queen-by-chrissy-donoghue-ward/

About the podcast – Stories from Foster Care is brought to you by the Irish Foster Care Association in association with the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. Join host Niamh Barrett as she meets people from all walks of life who have different experiences of foster care in Ireland. Listen to Stories from Foster Care on Spotify, Apple, Nearcast or wherever you get your podcasts. Be sure to subscribe for all the latest episodes.

The music on this podcast is a track called Pastures by Ketsa, the music appears here under a Creative Commons Licence. Stories from Foster Care is made with the Near FM podcast network. For more information and how to get involved visit https://nearcast.ie/get-involved/