Tax-free travellin'
Ireland's gyppos—sorry, Travellers—want their history and culture to be taught as part of the curriculum in Irish schools.
One Traveller opined that schools need to work with the community to avoid othering
them—whatever the hell that's supposed to mean in the real world—and because we're just as bright-minded, as wild and beautiful and as boring as everybody else.
Albeit tax-efficient
.
According to another deodorant-dodger:
"We really do want to be a part of society," he added, "We are a part of what makes up the modern Irish state."
Matt Fox, BBC News Northern Ireland
Yet, when they move on, they leave the state in a state. And real taxpayers paying the clean-up costs.
According to Amnesty UK's mythbuster
on Gypsies, Roma, and Travellers:
They don't contribute to society and don't pay their taxes Gypsies, Roma and Travellers have been part of European society for centuries, practising a range of occupations including metal-work, small-scale trading and agricultural labour. Their music, storytelling and art have long been part of European culture. Those who are employed or self-employed pay taxes like anyone else. In the UK, Gypsies and Travellers living on privately owned or Council sites pay Council Tax, rent and other charges.
Amnesty UK, Fact or Fiction: Gypsies, Roma, and Travellers. An Amnesty Mythbuster
Public bodies have a duty under the Equality Act 2010, and are at pains to note that gyppos pay taxes that are levied at the point of sale and thus cannot be avoided—VAT, fuel tax etc.. But they're coy about income tax. Not all Travellers travel, and I have no doubt that those who live in permanent accommodation pay the same taxes as everyone else. But they aren't the ones we think about when we consider Travellers and the Traveller problem.
They are dirty Gypsy culture is built on strict codes of cleanliness, including strict guidelines on what objects can be washed in what bowls. Most Gypsies, Roma and Travellers take great pride in their homes.
Amnesty UK, Fact or Fiction: Gypsies, Roma, and Travellers. An Amnesty Mythbuster
From personal experience, taking pride in their homes and domestic cleanliness doesn't extend to their immediate environment. That they leave as a tip, when they move on, for other people to clean up.