One of the country's main traveller support organisations has said certain politicians were guilty of incitement to hatred in their comments in the wake of the Padraig Nally case.
Nally, a Co Mayo farmer, was sentenced to six years in prison two weeks ago after being found guilty of the manslaughter of traveller John Ward on his land.
Martin Collins, Assistant Director of Pavee Point, said travellers had been vilified, demonised and condemned by some politicians, journalists and members of the public in the wake of the Nally sentencing.
Mr Collins said the past fortnight had been a very difficult one for travellers and had set back relations between the traveller and settled community by five years. But he said the travelling community would 'bounce back'.
The comments were made at a press conference organised by traveller groups to respond to issues thrown up by the Nally case. The Irish Traveller Movement (ITM) said it had waited a fortnight before organising the press conference in order to let the dust settle and tensions abate.
Thomas McCann of the ITM described as very irresponsible comments by Fine Gael TD, Paul Kehoe, that he would have done exactly the same thing as Padraig Nally if he had found himself in the same situation.
The press conference also heard calls for the laws on incitement to hatred to be changed, and for the setting up of a press council.
Mr Collins said some politicians had exploited the Nally case for their own political gain, and said he was equally disappointed that many politicians had remained silent on the issue.
Aisling Reidy, Director of the Irish Council of Civil Liberties, told the press conference that she feared proposals by Fine Gael to amend legislation to make it easier for people to protect their own property were a 'murderous charter'.
Ms Reidy said it would lead to a situation where drug dealers and career criminals could murder someone on their own property and claim reasonable grounds.
Ms Reidy said a pattern was emerging where law makers were using criminal law not to regulate communities, but to target marginalised communities like travellers.
