Traveller Ethnicity community event Fermoy organising committee members at the launch of their upcoming event, to be held on Tuesday next, June 13, l-r: Maryann O'Reilly, Jacinta McCormack, Mary Rose O'Reilly, Brendan Scahill, Pauline O'Grady Noonan and Pauline O'Dwyer. Missing from photo are Jason Sheehan and Conor Gately.

The Fermoy Community Network welcomed the announcement on March 1, 2017 that the Irish government has formally recognised the Ethnicity of the Traveller Community.

To mark this significant milestone for Travellers within our locality – and throughout Ireland – the Fermoy Community Network are hosting a community event where they plan to officially mark the recognition of Traveller Ethnicity with the unveiling of a commemorative bench in the community garden at Fermoy Resource Centre on McCurtain street.

The Fermoy Community Network was set up by the HSE Community Work Department over 20 years ago. It was originally set up as an information sharing network and comprises members of voluntary, community and statutory representatives working or supporting groups and services in the community.

Members meet to discuss issues relevant to supporting individuals and families around community issues.

This community event will take place on Tuesday, June 13 from 11am – 1pm and will be a celebration of Traveller culture and tradition. On that morning, a wide variety of items and photographs will be on display in the Resource Centre, and members of the local Traveller community will be on hand to answer questions about the various exhibits.

The official ceremony will take place at 12 noon and an open invitation is issued to all members of the community to come along and view the exhibition and join us to officially mark this event with the Traveller community. Refreshments will be provided.