LONDON (AP) – A network of holiday parks in Britain has maintained a list of Irish surnames of “unwanted guests” in an attempt to keep out members of the Irish traveling community, said the Equality Watchdog in the Kingdom. United on Tuesday.
The list maintained by Pontins, which was displayed on a team’s intranet site, contained about 40 names, mostly Irish, including Cash, Delaney, Gallagher, Murphy and O’Brien. The news on the list was released by newspaper i.
Britain’s Equality and Human Rights Commission said Pontins was “directly discriminating on the basis of race” by refusing to serve guests from a particular ethnic group. He said the team declined or canceled reservations made by people with an Irish name or accent.
Irish travelers are a traditionally similar nomadic group, but ethnically distinct from gypsies or gypsies. They are a recognized ethnic minority in Britain, where many have lived for generations and for a long time suffered discrimination.
Alastair Pringle, the executive director of the equality commission, said it was “difficult not to make comparisons” with “signs displayed in hotel windows 50 years ago, explicitly banning Irish and blacks”.
“Banning people from services based on their race is discrimination and is illegal,” he said. “To say that such policies are out of date is an understatement.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s spokesman Jamie Davies said Pontins’ behavior was “completely unacceptable”.
“Nobody in the UK should be discriminated against because of their race or ethnicity,” he said.
Founded in the 1940s, when overseas holidays were a rarity, Pontins offers inexpensive beachfront vacation packages, including accommodation, meals and entertainment. At the height of the company, there were about 30 Pontins units in the UK, but only half a dozen are still operating.
The equality commission said Pontins owner Britannia Jinky Jersey Ltd. signed a legal agreement to end its discriminatory practices.
Britannia Jinky Jersey Ltd. said in a statement that “it has agreed to work together with the Equality and Human Rights Commission to further improve the training and procedures of its staff in order to further promote equality in all of its Business”.