AlamyPontins has apologised on to Irish travellers, saying it had beforehand refused to permit its friends to remain as a result of it suspected they had been from the Irish neighborhood, which was “clearly wrong”.
The apology is step one within the vacation park firm’s one-year motion plan to sort out discrimination towards Irish Travellers.
The scheme was drawn up along side the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) after the watchdog discovered Pontins had engaged in illegal acts of discrimination towards Irish Travellers.
Earlier this yr the EHRC revealed an investigation Pontins has been discovered to have had “company systems and practices” designed to ban Irish travellers from its vacation parks between 2013 and 2018.
“Race and ethnicity should never be a barrier to going on holiday,” EHRC chair Baroness Kishwer Faulkner mentioned on Monday.
“Pontins has today apologised to the Irish Traveller community, whom it discriminated against, and has begun work to implement stricter security measures and guarantee a zero-tolerance policy towards discrimination.”
'Banned List'
The EHRC investigation discovered 11 illegal acts that discriminated towards Irish travellers, together with refusing or cancelling bookings made by folks with Irish accents or surnames.
The fee additionally discovered that Pontins had created a listing of widespread Irish surnames, which had been marked as “unwanted guests”.
Some of the names on the record of undesirable friends – whose pictures the EHRC included in its report – had been Boyle, Keefe, Gallagher, O'Donnell, McGuinness, Murphy and O'Reilly.
In addition to this record, the watchdog discovered there was additionally a “banned list” containing the names of individuals believed to be Irish Travellers and the names of their associates.
The EHRC mentioned Pontins additionally had guidelines requiring friends to be registered on the electoral roll, which the fee mentioned was discriminatory towards Gypsies and Travellers as they had been much less prone to be registered on the electoral roll.
The motion plan, whose implementation can be monitored by the oversight physique, presents a “zero tolerance approach to discrimination”.
The requirement of getting identify in voters record has been abolished and a dedication has been expressed to not implement it once more.
Booking insurance policies will even be monitored, a whistleblower scheme can be launched, and engagement can be executed with traveller communities.
A Pontins spokesman mentioned the corporate “wishes to reiterate its apologies in respect of the serious issues” raised by the ECHR.
“We deeply regret any inconvenience this may cause, particularly to members of the Traveller and Gypsy communities who have been directly affected,” the corporate mentioned.
The assertion mentioned the corporate was “fully committed to ensuring ongoing compliance with the Equality Act 2010, applying a zero-tolerance approach to all forms of discrimination and promoting an inclusive and welcoming environment for all our guests.”
Pontins had earlier mentioned the decision centre the place the incidents befell had now closed.
With inputs from BBC
