Soccer club ordered to invite Travellers to fun day

A south Dublin football club has been ordered to invite children living at a halting site next door to a “soccer fun day” with other local children after one of its officials refused to accept two Traveller boys aged eight and nine as members last year.

After noting that a “punitive financial award” might stand as an “exemplary headline setting for all sports clubs”, adjudicator Michael McEntee ultimately found that any redress had to be “focused on inclusiveness, not penalisation of one party… leaving a possible legacy of anti-Traveller bitterness”.

The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) found it was “clear that a technical case of discrimination had taken place” when the official blamed property damage at the club on “this group of people” as he refused the boys.

The tribunal heard the official, a longstanding volunteer at Wayside Celtic Football Club, was having a “bad day” at work and was under pressure when he took the call.

As part of a compliance direction under the Equal Status Act 2000, the tribunal has ordered the club to set aside €1,000 to fund the event, to give each boy a €50 voucher for Smyths Toys and to appoint a voluntary community liaison officer to deal with its next-door neighbours in the Traveller housing estate on the Glenamuck Road in Kilternan, Co Dublin.

It follows a complaint against the club in May 2023 by Jim Connors, on behalf of his sons Jim and Michael, after efforts to resolve the dispute through mediation were unsuccessful.

Anna Birbeck, of the Traveller support agency Exchange House, told an equality hearing that she had phoned the junior club official at Wayside Celtic FC in March 2023 asking whether the club would admit the boys as juniors.

The response from the junior official Mr D was that it would not be possible to take them – and he went on to state that “their group of people” had caused trouble for the club, referring to allegations about fences being broken and scramblers being driven on the pitches, Ms Birbeck explained in her evidence.

Mr D added that it was “too late in the season” for the boys to join and that the teams were “already full”.

The tribunal was told the boys were “very keen on football” and that being refused as members because they were Travellers had a “very negative effect” on them.

Mr D had taken Ms Birkbeck’s phone call “on a bad day” while he was in his car and on his way to a work meeting, he told the tribunal in evidence.

He added that he “regretted” what he said but believed that it was being “completely exaggerated and taken out of context”.

The adjudicator noted that the witness accepted that neither of the boys had “anything to do” with any damage to club facilities.

Wayside Celtic FC had formed decades prior as a rural club and had since been surrounded by suburban development and a “rapidly expanding population”, the WRC was told.

Mr D’s position was that demand for spots on junior teams was “almost insatiable” and that when he took the call, they were all “fully subscribed”.

“It was very clear that he could possibly have handled the call better. No one is a saint, and if it was a discriminatory response, it was at the very minor end of discrimination,” the club submitted.

“[The club is] now dealing with unprecedented numbers of children wishing to join. It was a voluntary club, and all officials were giving of their free time – unpaid. [Mr D] had been in the job for a considerable period and had done trojan work to keep the club functioning well at junior level. Discrimination was not in his nature,” the club further submitted.

Wayside Celtic FC wanted to be “good neighbours” and “sort the complaint out amicably”, its representatives added.

Adjudicator Michael McEntee wrote in his decision: “It was clear that a technical case of discrimination had taken place in the phone call.”

The adjudicator’s initial view was that a punitive financial award against the club “might well be an exemplary headline setting for all sports clubs generally”, noting that Ms Birbeck tended to this view.

However, he said: “The positive development of the relationship between the parties is what is important for the future,” noting that the club’s chairman and a senior official at Exchange House had both taken this view at the hearing.

“Any redress has to be focused on inclusiveness, not penalisation of one party, especially a voluntary club, leaving a possible legacy of anti-Traveller bitterness,” Mr McEntee wrote.

In a compliance direction, he ordered Wayside Celtic FC to interview for and appoint a voluntary community liaison officer tasked with working with “the Traveller Community next door”.

Mr McEntee recommended the club apply for State or local government funding to pay the volunteer’s expenses.

He said Exchange House could support the club in appointing and training the candidate and applying for funding.

Mr McEntee also directed the club to set aside €1,000 for a “kids’ soccer fun day to which all local children are invited, especially those from the Traveller housing”, and suggested that the boys’ mother could have an input.

The adjudicator also ordered that each of the boys be given a voucher for €50 to “to spend as they please” at Smyths Toys. Finally, he ordered Wayside Celtic FC to “recognise the incredible voluntary contribution” of the official, Mr D.

“He informed the hearing that he was ‘stepping down’ after many years’ service. A brief ‘bad day’ phone call should not take from this,” Mr McEntee added.