Travellers group dismayed by publicans' blanket ban

A BLANKET ban by publicans on the sale of alcohol to Travellers would only alienate the travelling community further and lead to a flood of discrimination cases against pubs, it was claimed yesterday.

Reacting to the news that publicans in Westport, Co Mayo, would directly challenge equality legislation and refuse service to Travellers, Mayo Travellers Support Group (MTSG) claimed the vintners involved were “shooting themselves in the foot”.

Bernadette Comiskey, a spokesperson for the group, said: “All this does is to illustrate the depth of prejudice which needs to be addressed.

“It is an unwise move because it will just serve to punish the vast majority of Travellers who are well behaved, alienate them further and generate a lot of discrimination cases against pubs.”

Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform Willie O’Dea said banning anyone for being a member of the Traveller Community was against the law and bar owners who do so will leave themselves open to sanction.

“We can not allow a situation to develop in this country where anybody who dislikes a law can unilaterally refuse to obey it. That is the road to anarchy and it is not acceptable,” he said.

VFI president Tadg O’Sullivan responded by saying anarchy is already here when people take over others’ homes and business with intimidation and violence.

Another member of the Mayo Travellers Support Group, Bernard Sweeney said: “It appears that Travellers walking into a pub and asking for a drink is enough to provoke calls to the gardaí, unnecessarily wasting their time and provoking confrontation and bad relations.”

Referring to the alleged incidents in pubs throughout west Mayo, which sparked the call for a ban, Mr Sweeney said: “Despite the antics of the publicans calling the gardaí there were no arrests and no charges.”

The MTSG claimed that the Vintners Federation of Ireland (VFI) was trying to portray themselves as the victims of an orchestrated campaign. It said that those who experience discrimination were not that well resourced or organised.

It was the publicans who were “systematically orchestrating a campaign against equality” by lobbying politicians and taking out large ads in newspapers to try to reinstate the previous status quo where they had “absolute power to discriminate”.

Gearóid O’Riain, another member of the Travellers support Group, said the equality legislation offered some limited redress to people who believed they have been treated in a discriminatory fashion.

“We are all protected by this legislation in one way or another and we should support it.”

The Travellers Support Group wants to meet with the VFI to try and resolve the dispute regarding access of Travellers to pubs in Westport.

They say they were astonished by the demand for a blanket ban and claim it is evidence of the unreasonable approach being adopted by the Federation to the issue.