Peter Casey has met with representatives and members of the Travelling community, who've challenged his comments about Travellers made during the presidential campaign.
In the second of a series of reports for The Pat Kenny Show, Mr Casey also visited a halting site in Dublin to witness the conditions Travellers live in first-hand.
🎬 WATCH: In part two of The Peter Casey Reports, @caseyPeterJ heads to a halting site to meet with members of the Travelling Community, listen live now on @patkennyNT 📻 https://t.co/V0NqGrcVdi #NTFM #PKNT #ChooseRadio #Ireland pic.twitter.com/UzgesoktFt
— NewstalkFM (@NewstalkFM) February 13, 2019
He also met with Angela O'Neill, coordinator of the Finglas Traveller Development Group.
She she 'couldn't believe' the remarks made during the campaign last year.
She said: "Personally I felt... I know it is completely misinformed, based in my opinion on prejudice and stereotypical image and perception of what is fed into Irish society in relation to Travellers."
'Derogatory mail'
Angela explained that she'd never received any 'derogatory mail' during her four years in the position until during the presidential election.
She said she received one 'astounding' email from someone who'd set up an email address under the name 'Michael the Pikey'.
She told Peter that the mail 'more or less quoted' statements made by him during the campaign.
She added: "I ignored it. On the morning of the count from the RDS, I received another email that morning saying '21% of the vote - what do you think of that? Ha ha ha'".
Peter insisted he's firmly against that kind of behaviour or support.
He explained that if people voted for him "because they thought I was a racist or they voted on me as against Travellers... then they voted for the wrong person, and they should change their vote".
He added: "I have never had a bad experience with a Traveller, ever.
"I was more surprised than you were with the reaction.
"There's a very small percentage of Travellers that are giving the Travellers a bad name, and the leadership of the Traveller community should step up."
Halting site
They visited a halting site at Dunsink Lane in Finglas, where Angela explained that Travellers have been living for at least 40 years.
Angela explained: "[Travellers] choose to live on halting sites, as is their cultural right. What they don't choose is to live in the conditions that they live in."
Bernard Joyce, a young Traveller who used to live at the halting site until around a year ago, explained: "It's ridiculous the way we're living.
"There's hundreds of rats out the back, there's rubbish everywhere, there's no running water proper."
He accused Mr Casey of "getting up on telly and saying ridiculous things about the Travelling community".
The businessman acknowledged that the conditions on the site were a "disgrace".
Peter heard from Thomas Keenan about the discrimination he has faced throughout his life, from an early age in school.
Thomas explained that he can barely read and write, and that while's he's secured a number of qualifications he's faced numerous challenges during his life.
Peter said Thomas' challenges in school were "wrong", but he doesn't believe it's happening today.
He claimed: "My point is very simple: I don't accept that teachers allow it to happen today."
Speaking after the meetings, Peter concluded: "They're definitely not an ethnic minority.
"I accept that they are a different subculture.
"Nobody in the leadership of the Travelling community could tell me how many actually travelled, and how many lived in houses."
