Travellers win award in racial bias case
From BELFAST TELEGRAPH December 15th, 1999
By Claire McGahan
FOUR members of the travelling community have been awarded damages after
a Newry public house refused to serve them, it has emerged. In a landmark
first case of its kind in Northern Ireland, a judge ruled that the travellers
- two married couples - had been racially discriminated against when staff
at the Olive Grove Bar in Newry refused to serve them, the Equality Commission
has revealed. The travellers were awarded £5,000 and the owners of the bar
were found to have broken Northern Ireland's race relations laws. Newry
County Court heard that the group was refused service at the Olive Grove
pub in Newry on April 20 this year. The only reason the group was refused
service was the fact that they were members of the travelling community,
the judge ruled. An injunction was issued banning the owner of the pub from
further acts of racial discrimination. It was the first case to come before
the courts in the province dealing with discriminatory treatment in the
provision of a service. And it was the first decision on the rights of the
Irish travelling community with regard to access to facilities and services.
In her judgment, Judge Isobel Brownlie said the travellers "would have been served but for the fact they are members of the travelling community." The
case was supported by the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland. The
Commission expressed delight at the outcome of the case. |
