Traveller awarded €5,000 after slur at Christmas staff party

A TRAVELLER who was called “a knacker” at his workplace Christmas party has been awarded €5,000.

Francis Maguire, an ex-care attendant with the North Eastern Health Board (NEHB), said his employers had ignored his allegations of harassment at the party and had cut his working hours following his complaint.

He also claimed, at a hearing of the Equality Tribunal, that he was treated differently by both management and colleagues when they found out that he was a Traveller.