The Irish tinkers

The Irish Tinkers are a once itinerant people who were comparable in many ways to the Gypsies of Europe. For centuries, Tinkers travelled the countryside and their adaptation to their environment was unique. They had a symbiotic relationship with the settled rural dwellers, performing services for farmers in exchange for food and other items. Recently, the last altered economic conditions affecting most of rural Ireland have brought an abrupt end to the Tinkers' traditional nomadic lifestyle and have forced them to establish semipermanent camps on the fringes of Ireland's cities. While Tinkers have successfully employed some of their traditional strategies for gaining a livelihood, the urban Irish view them as a poverty-stricken people who must be transformed into more respectable citizens. Consequently, the government have created welfare measures, to which Tinkers must also adapt.