Fire service ordered to pay €5,000 to former employee over racist note

LIMERICK City Fire Service has been ordered to pay €5,000 to a former English employee who found an anonymous racist note in his locker advising him to quit his job.

In September 2006, Martin Mannering, a native of Middlesbrough, found the note in his locker which read: “This is Limerick, Ireland not Middlesboro, England. Take (named employee’s) advice.”

The named employee was a firefighter with Limerick fire brigade who left the brigade to transfer to the Dublin Fire Service. The Equality Tribunal, which dealt with a complaint from Mr Mannering, said the note clearly implied Mr Mannering should leave the Limerick service too. He had been an employee of the service since 2001.