Ward flew here with a handful of other Travelers and some 16 or so human rights advocates from Ireland, to make sure that the rights of nomadic people are specified in the final declarations. "We hope to ensure that Travelers get mentioned. If we are not mentioned how can we enforce the legislation in our own counties?"

"It is the same with the Sinti and the Roma," she said, "If we are mentioned at this level now it will flow down to the Irish level. And I hope it will make a change, that the Travelers will get access to health service, education and basic accommodation.

The rights of some 25,000 "traveling people" in Ireland, who are sometimes locally called Gypsies, although they have no blood connection to European counterparts, have been protected by law since 1998. But Ward said the enforcement is often very lax.

"Basic human rights, access to things taken for granted, are denied to us," she said.

Human rights workers with Ward said statistically the Travelers have less access to health services, less education, and worse accommodation than settled people.

Ward said additionally, "We have no access to (reception) halls for our weddings, some pubs won't let us in, and our youth aren't allowed into youth groups." "We have no social life whatever, " she said.

Rachel O'Doyle of Ireland's National Traveler Women's Forum said "health is a key indication of discrimination, and infant mortality among the Travelers is three times that of the settled community. Land life expectancy of traveler women is 12 years less"

O'Doyle said that although her group was fighting for Travelers' right to carry their patient records with them, for cultural awareness on the part of teachers, students and peers, and for accommodation at "halting" areas, the real problem is one of attitude.

People, she said, "must acknowledge the oppression, acknowledge the poverty, and acknowledge that people feel kicked out, that people are being told that they are worse than everyone else."