A visually impaired man who was refused entry to a Dublin pub with his guide dog has been awarded €3,000 by the Equality Authority.
Mr John Roche was told by staff at Madigans pub on O'Connell Street that it would be against food hygiene regulations to allow the dog on the premises.
An equality officer, however, said the regulations did not apply to guide dogs and ordered Madigans to compensate Mr Roche for the distress, embarrassment and inconvenience he was caused.
She also ordered the pub to display a notice at the entrance stating that people with disabilities, including those with guide dogs, were welcome to enter.
Mr Roche, a telephonist at the Department of Defence, said yesterday he decided he had "had enough" after the incident occurred in January last year.
He had been refused entry to other pubs and restaurants in similar circumstances in the past and decided on this occasion to pursue the matter.
The equality officer, Ms Marian Duffy, heard evidence that Mr Roche had attempted to enter the pub with two friends between 9 and 9.30 p.m. They were stopped from entering by the doorman who said dogs were not allowed on the premises. There could have been no doubt that Mr Roche's dog was a guide dog, Ms Duffy was told.
In its response to Mr Roche's case, Alabaster Associates Ltd, trading as Madigans, said that the pub served carvery food up to 3 p.m. and after that served wrapped toasted sandwiches, tea and coffee.
It said Mr Roche declined an offer to have his dog looked after by the doorman while he was inside the pub.
Mr Roche said no such offer was made and, in any case, it would not have been acceptable.
"My guide dog is my eyes," he told The Irish Times yesterday. "I need him to bring me everywhere. It would be like telling someone in a wheelchair, 'you are welcome to come in but your wheelchair isn't'." He had brought the case to highlight a problem encountered "on a regular basis" by guide dog owners.
Immediately prior to the incident at Madigans, he had been to a restaurant with his two friends, where the dog had been admitted without any difficulty.
Ms Duffy said the maximum compensation she could have awarded was €6,349. In awarding €3,000, she was taking into account the fact that a guide dog was an "essential mobility aid" for a visually-impaired person.
Madigans had no one available to comment.
