Iarnród Éireann apologises to same-sex couple over boarding refusal

Iarnród Éireann has apologised to a same-sex couple after a member of its staff refused to let them board a train at Heuston Station.

The staff member questioned the validity of their Department of Social Protection-issued travel pass and refused to allow them board a train from Dublin to Cork on Sunday.

Cork man Noel Dolan is on disability allowance and qualifies for a travel pass which also covers his partner Juan Carlos Camacho Suarez, whom he married in Spain, where gay marriage is legal.

However, when they tried to board the 6pm train to Cork on Sunday having attended a demonstration for civil marriage equality, Mr Dolan said an official ordered them to stand aside and told them Iarnród Éireann did not recognise same-sex marriages.

Mr Dolan claims a second official said they would not be prevented from travelling but that same-sex couples were not allowed to use a travel pass.

An Iarnród Éireann spokesperson said the couple should not have been prevented from boarding the train, adding that staff in Heuston Station were not aware of changes to the provisions of the free travel scheme arising from the Civil Partnership Act of 2010.

Additional reporting courtesy of the Irish Examiner