Kerry restaurant booking cancelled over customer's objection to masks
When Katie Farrell took a booking at her restaurant last Saturday, she thought little of it when the customer rang back later to “interrogate” her.
Used to people asking about precautions taken at Dooley’s regarding Covid-19, she happily rattled off the safety measures.
What she didn’t expect, however, was cancellation that followed.
And it came the same day 17,000 people marched in Berlin to protest against masks and Germany's other Covid-19 restrictions.
The protest, which saw protestors abandon their masks and refuse to physically distance themselves from others, followed one held by 3,000 recently in Dublin.
Both protests have taken place amid rising cases of infection.
Ms Farrell referenced the cancellation on Twitter.
Had a customer on phone tonight said would cancel reservation if our staff or customers are wearing masks! I accepted the cancellation immediately with gratitude! #StaySafe #WearAMask
— DooleysWaterville (@DooleysWatervi1) August 30, 2020
It received more than 2,500 likes, as well as overwhelmingly supportive comments.
“I didn't expect a tweet to get so much attention," she said.
“The potential customer made a booking and then decided to call back and interrogate us about our Covid-19 safety precautions.
“They asked do we wear face-coverings, and I said we do, of course.
“And they asked if we expected them to wear a face covering, and I told them according to the guidelines they have to wear a face-covering until they are seated at the table.
“It was at that point they said they wanted to cancel their booking.
“They told me this was because they don't agree with face coverings.
“I said I was very sorry and I explained we have a duty of care towards our staff and other customers to keep everyone safe.”
She added:
Adrian Cummins, CEO of Restaurants Association of Ireland, said of the incident: “I haven’t seen this before.
“This is the first case to be brought to my attention, but that doesn’t mean there haven’t been other cases out there.
“You have to have sympathy with the restaurant owner. They are doing everything right in accordance with public health advice and guidelines.
“Then you have customers who are trying to go against government advice, putting the restaurant owner in a predicament."
Gerry Killeen, research chair in applied pathogen ecology at University College Cork, said there will be more incidents like the one at Dooley's.
“The only reason why this doesn’t surprise me is that if you look through the history of public health, this is nothing new.
“You will always get people who are extraordinarily stubborn (and) non-compliant.
“There are two sides to the issue of us all being in it together. There will be more cases like this because frustrations are starting to boil over. The few people like this present an enormous risk to the rest of us.”
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