Alcohol use and the Traveller community in the west of Ireland MARIE CLAIRE VAN HOUT* Department of Health, Sport and Exercise Science, School of Health Sciences,Waterford Institute ofTechnology, Ireland Abstract Introduction and Aims. The Traveller community as ethnic minority is vulnerable to problematic alcohol use, because of social exclusion, discrimination, lack of awareness and difficulties in engaging with addiction treatment protocols. Design and Methods. This research yielded an exploratory account of Travellers and alcohol use according to the perspectives of the Travellers and key service providers in the west of Ireland, within the context of a large-scale study on Travellers and substance use.The research consisted of 12 peer-accompanied focus groups of Traveller men and women (n = 57) and 45 semistructured interviews with a self-selecting sample of key service agencies. The research themes related to Traveller culture and alcohol use, sex differences, reasons for consuming alcohol, attitude to alcohol use, problematic alcohol use, levels of alcohol harm-related knowledge, perceptions of alcohol-related risk and experiences of addiction services. A thematic analysis of the information garnered guided this comparative analysis. Results. The Traveller community, and in particular Traveller men, are presenting with increasingly problematic alcohol use, because of dissipation of their culture and their experiences of marginalisation, discrimination, depression, illiteracy and poverty. Difficulties engaging with law enforcement, community health and addiction services compromise their efforts to deal with this problem and home detoxification attempts are common. Discussion and Conclusions. Services must aim to take into consideration the cultural needs of Travellers and provide appropriate educational materials, peer education programs and flexible treatment approaches for those Travellers experiencing problematic alcohol use. [Van Hout MC. Alcohol use and theTraveller community in the west of Ireland. Drug Alcohol Rev 2010;29:59–63] Key words: Traveller, alcohol abuse, integrated service, ethnic minority. Introduction Treatment statistics consistently report alcohol as primary substance of misuse in Ireland [1]. National drug policy and regional services must diversify in terms of the dynamics of substances used, and most particularly among at-risk groups such as the Traveller community [2]. The Traveller culture once offered some resilience to substance misuse, in terms of strong family networks and anti-drug attitudes [3] (cited in Fountain [4]). The Traveller community as ethnic minority experience many risk factors identified for problematic substance use. Their lives are typically characterised by poor educational attainment, unem- ployment, compromised housing conditions, criminal activity, domestic violence, child welfare issues, poor health and experiences of discrimination in the com- munity [4]. This has led to increasing levels of alcohol abuse and problematic drug use, and occurs in con- junction with the merging of Traveller communities with ‘settled’ or mainstream communities. Because of the lack of ethnic identifiers in reporting systems and difficulties accessing theTraveller commu- nities, there is a dearth of national and regional infor- mation regarding the Travellers and levels of substance use. National prevalence surveys indicate that male Travellers exhibit higher levels of alcohol use than females, and that theTraveller community report lower levels of drug use [4–6]. However, the Traveller com- munity is reported to be under-represented in health, community and treatment services, because of the lack of awareness, mobility, discriminatory experiences and difficulties in engaging with treatment protocols [7] (cited in Fountain [4]). Marie Claire Van Hout MSc, BA, Lecturer (Health Science). Correspondence to Marie Claire Van Hout, Glenaskough, Nine Mile House, Carrick on Suir, Co. Tipperary, Ireland. Tel: 087-2375979; E-mail: mcvh@eircom.net *The author is attached to the School of Health Sciences,Waterford Institute ofTechnology, Ireland and lectures in youth at risk and substance use. Received 20 November 2008; accepted for publication: 6 March 2009. Drug and Alcohol Review (January 2010), 29, 59–63 DOI: 10.1111/j.1465-3362.2009.00085.x © 2009 Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs