Two airport security officers were dismissed from Aer Rianta last year for ordering Glasgow Rangers football supporters to cover up their jerseys as they passed through Dublin Airport, the Employment Appeals Tribunal heard yesterday.
The airport body, now known as the Dublin Airport Authority PLC, maintains that, as supporters of Glasgow Celtic FC, Mr Frank Flynn and Mr Ken Geary were upset that a small number of Rangers fans appeared in the airport in their rival club's colours, particularly as the day in question was July 12th.
The tribunal heard that Mr Flynn and Mr Geary told two fans to take off or cover up their shirts. Following an internal inquiry and appeal, the two men were dismissed for "harassment of passengers".
The men, who were working as airport search unit officers in the "frisking area" of the terminal building, are now appealing the dismissal on the grounds they were merely advising the men to cover their jerseys "for their own safety" as they were concerned they might cause a "flashpoint" with drunk Celtic fans who they say were in the airport bar.
However, Mr Marcus Dowling, for Dublin Airport Authority, said: "It was deliberate harassment of Rangers fans just because they were Rangers fans."
The tribunal heard that on July 12th, 2003, Mr Flynn spotted the football fans and remarked that they should not be wearing Rangers jerseys "on the day that's in it".
It is alleged that he and Mr Geary then waited more than an hour and a half for them to pass through security.
Mr Geary and Mr Flynn, who were described by former colleagues as "100 per cent Celtic fans", approached the three young men in the shopping area of the airport, telling them to cover up their jerseys.
The tribunal heard evidence and saw a video tape of a separate incident the next day when it is alleged Mr Geary was checking boarding cards at the entrance to the frisking area when he barred access to three Rangers supporters until they covered up their jerseys.
Ms Fiona Crawford, for Mr Geary, said that on that occasion the Rangers supporters were drunk and aggressive.
They used sectarian language and called her client "Irish scum" and a "Free State Fenian bastard", she said.
But Mr Dowling said that the video proved that the Rangers supporters had showed no signs of drunkenness or aggression. He also maintained that the sectarian language only arose after Mr Geary had forced the men to cover up their Rangers jerseys.
The hearing continues before Mr Dermot McCarthy SC on February 14th.