Sir, - I was recently refused entry into a public house in Dublin city because I was wearing earrings. The doorman informed me that this was "house policy". I am male. My companion also wore earrings yet was not refused admission. She is female.
I have since discovered, to my alarm, that the public house in question - indeed, any public house - is legally entitled to this course of action. Only if a racial motive is suspected for refusal of entry may an individual have grounds for complaint and possible legal action. Being a particularly white native of Donegal (pale blue in some lights!), I fear this avenue of inquiry is closed to me.
Am I alone in believing that this selective discrimination is disturbing and unacceptable, and that the practice of placing such arbitrary power in the hands of "doormen" and "bouncers" is fundamentally wrong?
When is a public house not a public house? - Yours, etc.,
Joe O'Boyle, Lindsay Road, Phibsborough, Dublin 9.