Pub ordered to close for refusing to serve Traveller

A pub in Co Kerry was today ordered to close after refusing to serve a Traveller and his companion.

The Mighty Dollar on Market Street in Listowel was told to shut for two days for discriminating against Leonard Evans and Karen Gearon.

Ms Gearon is co-ordinator of The Kerry Travellers Development Project. She said today it was the first closure order of its kind in Ireland.

Despite equality laws, she said Travellers still faced huge discrimination.

Ms Gearon said: “Imagine being a Traveller living in circumstances where if you walk into a shop you’re being followed around, if you go into a pub there's a fear you're not going to be served. Imagine living with that every single day of your life!”

“I think the struggle of Travellers in Ireland is as difficult as the struggle of black people for rights in South Africa.”