Some shops should be more discreet in the way their security personnel operate at this time of year, and should be particularly sensitive to the feelings of the Travelling community, the mayor of one town has said.
Mayor of Killarney Mr Michael Courtney (Ind) was responding to criticisms made by a member of the Travelling community in Killarney on the Joe Duffy Liveline show on RTÉ on Friday.
Mr Pat O'Brien, a father of nine, complained to Joe Duffy that when he and his wife went into stores in the town, they were "followed around".
There was no point in complaining to store managers because there was a prejudice against Travellers, he said.
He was speaking during a discussion on guttering work by unscrupulous contractors.
Just because a few offenders might be members of the Travelling community did not mean all Travellers were unscrupulous. He appealed to house holders to keep an open mind, and not to turn people away just because they were Travellers.
The reality was Travellers were working for themselves "to try to climb a ladder from the gutter" - the gutter of few opportunities and prejudice. They had little chance of being employed otherwise.
They were not trying to fleece people on guttering jobs, Mr O'Brien said.
Mr Courtney said experience had shown him recently that in some stores in Killarney and elsewhere security staff were too openly vigilant, sometimes staring at people, and they made everyone feel as if they were stealing or doing something wrong.
This was intimidating for the general public, but it was even more degrading for the Travelling community, who already felt perhaps they were being unfairly singled out.
"They must feel it terribly," he said.
Some of the shops should be more discreet with their security, Mr Courtney said.