Staff were also told to listen out for Irish accents.
A British holiday firm has apologised after a list of people with “undesirable” Irish surnames “banned” from making bookings was made public.
A report by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) uncovered that British holiday company Pontins had created a list that had included instructions to staff to refuse bookings specifically from the Irish Travelling community.
It was revealed by the commission that call centre staff were also instructed to listen out for Irish accents in order to decline or cancel their bookings.
British holiday firm had a blacklist of Irish surnames that they would not take bookings from
The EHRC believes that the detailed instructions amount to multiple breaches of the Equality Act, which has resulted in Pontins receiving an unlawful act notice from the as a result of the “multiple instances of race discrimination against Irish Travellers”.
The notice means that Pontins must, by law, produce an action plan to set out how it intends to meet the EHRC’s recommendations.
The list of ‘undesirable guests’ was originally brought to the attention of the watchdog by a whistleblower in 2020.
The park, which is owned by Britannia Jinky Jersey Limited, also had rules in place requiring guests to appear on the electoral register, which the commission said was a discriminatory practice against Gypsies and Travellers, who are less likely to be on the register.
Wow – this is the list of surnames that staff at British holiday park company Pontins were told to exclude from bookings.
"We do not want these guests on our parks" the blacklist on the company's intranet read. https://t.co/T5tjgznqUs
Scoop by @ChrisGreenNews and @cahalmilmo pic.twitter.com/4fd1r45fcP— Naomi O'Leary (@NaomiOhReally) March 2, 2021
The full list of ‘undesirable guests’ is as follows:
Boylan
Boyle
Carney
Carr
Cash
Connors
Corcoran
Delaney
Doherty
Dorran
Gallagher
Horan
Keefe
Kell
Leahy
Lee
MacLaughlin
McAlwick
McCully
McDonagh
McGinley
McGinn
McGuiness
McHarg
McLaughan
McMahon
Millighan
Mongans
Murphy
Nolan
O’Brien
O’Connell
O’Donnell
O’Donoghue
O’Mahoney
O’Reilly
Sheridan
Stokes
Walch
Ward
Campaigns officer for charity Friends, Families and Travellers Chris McDonagh said: “It is deeply saddening that Irish Traveller people have become so used to hate and prejudice that the Pontins ‘blacklist’ did not come as a surprise.
“Whilst we are certain that Pontins are not the only ones operating such discriminatory policies, we welcome the EHRC’s investigation and commend the whistleblower’s principled stance.
“Everyone deserves to live free from hate and prejudice.”
Pontins issue apology over discriminatory practices
A spokesperson for Pontins issued an apology, saying: “We are in the process of reviewing the unlawful act notice and investigation report from the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
“The specific incidents reported by the EHRC are historic issues, pre-dating 2018.
“The call centre where the incidents took place has now closed and the majority of the staff involved have now left Pontins.
“We apologise to all who may have been affected. Pontins is committed to ensuring ongoing compliance with the Equality Act 2010.”
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