A Dublin senator has said Ireland has a "long way to go" in tackling racism after a taxi driver refused to take her home to a halting site in Ballyfermot.
Eileen Flynn, who is a member of the Travelling community, told the Seanad of a incident of discrimination she recently faced when a taxi refused to bring her all the way to the site, reports Buzz.ie.
In her speech, Ms Flynn said: "Last night, I got a taxi home from town and the taxi driver refused to take me into my house in a halting site. So if I went on to be the President of Ireland or a top surgeon or whatever you may go on to be, no matter what you are, to a lot of people I'm still just a member of the Traveller community.
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"I'm still just a p***y, a k*****r. Somebody who came from absolutely nothing and last night I felt that to the gut of my stomach.
"Thinking, oh my God, you're never going to be good enough in society no matter what you do."
The taxi driver even threatened to call the Gardai after Senator Flynn refused to pay him for not taking her all the way to her requested destination. Ms Flynn ended up phoning the gardai herself and the taxi driver only agreed to take her to the halting site if the Garda operator stayed on the line while he dropped here there.
She added: "Unfortunately when you're a member of the Traveller community, even in 2023, being a senator, no matter what you be, you will experience racism and discrimination."
Deputy leader of the Seanad, Regina Doherty, praised her Seanad colleague for speaking out against discrimination and for the work Senator Flynn does in highlighting the issues faced by the Travelling community.
"You’re definitely not the first and unless we do something, you’re not going to be the last," the Fine Gael senator said.
"The thing that probably struck me most, other than the event last night, is what you said this morning is that 'you came from nothing'. You absolutely did not come from nothing.
"Not only are you an equal member of this house, you have done so much to highlight the issues on behalf of your community that maybe most of us don't even recognise."
Ms Doherty also called on others to support Senator Flynn and recognise the "difficulties" that the Traveller community experiences "and do something about it".
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