A former resident of Dublin’s Morning Star Hostel has brought the registered charity to the Work Relations Commission, alleging that he was “Religiously discriminated against” contrary to the Equal Status Act.
During a hearing of his case this afternoon, the man, who is from an “Anglican” background, but now considers himself “agnostic” claimed that he had been subjected to a “stridently sectarian comment” after he alleges that a “swarthy” volunteer at the hostel, whom he was unable to identify, said, “Isn’t it the Protestant that likes our chapel?”
This comment is alleged to have been made regarding his use of the hostel chapel which is open to all users regardless of their faith, according to managers at the Morning Star.
The hostel, which receives no government funding and has been aiding “very vulnerable” men for 97 years, was established by Dublin man, Frank Duff, who founded the Legion of Mary.
Its sister hostel, the Regina Coeli, caters to homeless women in like manner.
The legal representative of the hostel, who Gript understands was offering his services on a ‘pro-bono’ basis, argued that the man’s case was “legally misconceived” and that he was seeking to bring the case to the WRC because of “general” grievances that was not the function of the legislation.
Socks going missing or being “stolen”.
The former resident claimed that during his approximately five week stay in the hostel, his socks had gone missing on numerous occasions. He claimed that this could only be due to “theft” as there was “such a volume of them that simply did not return”.
He said that the financial burden of allegedly being deprived of his socks had affected him badly, and that he was “down to my last coppers” at the time, and did not want to eat into the deposit he had for a property in Drogheda, which he intended to buy.
The tribunal chair questioned the gravity of the financial stress that could have been brought about by missing socks in circumstances where the complainant has sufficient money to put a deposit on a property.
To this, the man answered that properties in Drogheda are much “cheaper” than in Dublin, and that even purchasing socks would have caused him to fall short of the full amount of the deposit.
Counsel for the hostel said that the man had been supplied with replacement socks, pointing out that no evidence of actual theft had been supplied to the tribunal.
The managers of the hostel explained that two specific volunteers are in charge of doing the washing for the approximately 62 men who stay at the Morning Star, and that residents place their laundry in bags and leave them to be washed. For this they pay €3 for 7kg.
When the tribunal chair pointed out that the missing socks was “not a egregious issue,” the man responded, “I would have felt it was,” adding that he had been rendered unable to afford “travel”.
Accepting the respondent’s argument that he had been supplied with new socks by the hostel, the man said, “It wasn’t the socks,” but the hostel’s “response” to the alleged issue that mattered to him.
The man said that he had found the €80 per week charge at the hostel, which includes meals, unaffordable, and had hoped to be allowed to work on site in order to be able to stay there for less.
Comments about consumption of toast
The man also alleged that comments had been made regarding his consumption of toast.
He alleged that a kitchen volunteer had said, “Oh, you love your toast, don’t you?”
The man took offence to this, “taken in totality this was what was concerning at the time,” adding that he was “still regarded as a Catholic”.
The hostel representative outlined how the man had asked for “three slices of toast for breakfast” and “two slices of toast with cheese” at dinner time, to which the man agreed saying, “I didn’t think they even had to provide the food for the money paid,”.
The man agreed that he had never been refused toast on request at the hostel, saying that he had no issue with the food, which is cooked daily by volunteer chefs.
Usage of the quiet room
The man also took issue with the usage of a space within the hostel known as “the quiet room”.
He said that another resident had played guitar in this room which led him to make a complaint.
He said that during his time at the hostel there were “Lots of small incidents that are scarcely worth mentioning” but that he had felt that the attitude of others was “as if I was always complaining” and “causing trouble”.
Issue with curfew time
The former resident alleged that he was discriminated against regarding the curfew at the Morning Star. Residents are expected to be back by 8pm as the hostel is “completely volunteer run” and must be “locked up” at night as it cannot afford to pay night staff.
The managers said that if a resident has a family event or a reason to want to stay out past the curfew, they can make this known and an exception can be made where they can return at 10:20 pm, but no later than 11pm.
IF they cannot return before 11pm they are asked to arrange alternative accommodation for the night, but are free to return the next day.
The man argued this exception had not been made available to him as he wished to avoid a certain resident at the evening ‘in’ time, however the hostel managers pointed out that the man had wished to avail of the exception on an ongoing basis, which the hostel is unable to facilitate.
Hostel managers make their case
The hostel managers outlined that although the Morning Star is a Roman Catholic charity, the doors of the hostel are open to men in need of all faiths or none. They said that the hostel is currently housing Catholics, Muslims, Protestants, and agnostics.
Some of the men are in their 70s and “are probably going to die there,” the manager said.
Once a man in need is allocated a bed at the hostel he can stay as long as he needs, but must leave the dorm at 11:30am in the morning before returning in the evening.
There is now a “men’s shed” that residents can use when not in the dorms.
They said that the Morning Star tries “to respect everyone” and is run by 50-60 volunteers, with no funding bar the income gained from an occasional fundraiser.
Some of the volunteers live at the hostel full time in order to cater to the residents.
The result of the case, which was heard in full today, is pending.