British holiday firm issues apology as blacklist of 40 Irish surnames comes to light

The British holiday firm Pontin's has issued an apology after a list of 40 Irish surnames which were deemed ‘undesirable’ to take bookings from has been spotlighted once again. 

The news came in 2020 when a whistleblower in the company revealed the blacklisted names and that staff were told to ‘listen out for Irish accents’ when taking bookings. 

Pontin's has hit headlines again as they have now issued a public apology for their discriminatory practices. 

The firm, which is now in the process of ‘reviewing and investigating unlawful act notices’ from previous years, was revealed to have a ‘ban’ on certain groups of Irish people - including that of the Traveller Community. 

A spokesperson for Pontin's issued an apology, saying: "The specific incidents 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."

A report by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) uncovered detailed lists of ‘banned names’ which amounted to multiple breaches of the Equality Act 2010, including ‘multiple instances of race discrimination against Irish Travellers’.

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

Pontin's previously had six sites located across the UK, but has since closed sites in Prestatyn, North Wales and Camber Sands in East Sussex, after being rated the UK's worst holiday camp in 2022. 

"Everyone deserves to live free from hate and prejudice,” said Chris McDonagh, campaigns officer for charity Friends, Families and Travellers. 

"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.”