Three members of the settled Traveller community have failed in their civil action for compensation, taken under the Equal Status Act and the Intoxicating Liquor Act, against a Galway city hotel which they alleged had discriminated against them by not serving them drink.
At a special sitting of Galway District Court yesterday, John McDonagh, Lurgan Park, Renmore; Anthony McDonagh, Clareview Park, Ballybane, and James Ward, Árd na Choiste, Headford Road, all Galway, sued Patrick Francis, trading as the Menlo Park Hotel, Terryland, Galway, claiming that on January 7th, the hotel discriminated against all three by refusing to serve them drink at the public bar because they were members of the Travelling community.
All three men gave evidence that they were attending an engagement party on January 7th and while they had all been served one round of drinks, they felt hurt and humiliated when they were refused a second drink. They claimed they had been told by bar staff that management had directed the bar be closed.
They claimed that while they were being refused a second drink they saw other people, who were not members of the Travelling community, being served from the bar.
Assistant bar manager Caroline Begley told Judge Aeneas McCarthy a large group of Travellers began to congregate in the bar from 8pm. She said she soon began to feel intimidated, harassed and frightened by their behaviour.
A group of 20 men, who sat at one table, and a group of 20 women, who sat at another table, kept shouting at her for drink while still sitting at their tables. She said she saw other customers being pushed and the group kept cutting across other customers' orders.
Ms Begley said she rang security boss Seán Sullivan and the hotel's general manager, David Keane, who were both off-duty, and asked them to come to the hotel. She said she was told to close the bar and did so after a short time in order to clear all orders first. Ms Begley said she had served one of the Travellers during this time.
Mr Keane gave evidence strongly denying the men's allegation that the hotel discriminated against them because they were Travellers. He said he and his staff were fully briefed in the relevant legislation and had never discriminated against anyone. He said that in spite of this the hotel was now being "held to ransom" by the proceedings before the court.
The court that heard some of the group sang We Shall Not Be Moved, but Mr Keane said that after he and the gardaí had explained the situation to representatives of the group, they left the premises peacefully.
Judge McCarthy said there was no evidence to suggest the Menlo Park Hotel ever discriminated against members of the Travelling community.
"I do not see this as discrimination against people of a group because they are members of the Travelling community or settled Travelling community," Judge McCarthy said. "What I see is people behaving in a way that is unacceptable and the bar being closed to prevent things getting out of hand."
He dismissed all three claims. He awarded legal costs and €200 witnesses' expenses to the hotel.