My surname was on the Pontins blacklist – welcome to England

One of the most striking things about this Pontins disgrace is that it made me feel a sliver of the kind of discrimination the Travelling community face

Unwelcome. It’s a shocking feeling – and not one you expect to experience in the UK, particularly when it’s based solely on your name.

Before today, the thought had never occurred to me to go to one of the holiday parks run by Pontins. I mostly associate them with childhood advertisements from the 1990s. But I now feel a sense of missed opportunity. Perhaps I, too, could have experienced an interrogation of my accent, background and address.

I am, of course, referring to the procedures, revealed by a whistleblower, which are designed to prevent those with highly specific surnames from booking a stay at Pontins.

My reaction to seeing “Delaney” on that list – before even registering the implications of that list existing at all – was one of almost stunned laughter. This must be some kind of joke, I thought. The jocularity of the notice added to the sense of farce. The document is headed by a picture of a wizard and the phrase Gandalf used in The Lord of the Rings: “You shall not pass.” The casualness of the discrimination made it all the more hurtful.

There was then the realisation that the names on the list were mostly popular Irish surnames, including Murphy and Kelly. Some were grotesquely misspelt. I’ve never come across a “Sheriadan”, “Maclaughlin”, “Millighan”, “Mongan” or “Walch”.

That level of generalisation pointed to something far deeper in all of this, something far more problematic, that has been such a specific challenge for Ireland: discrimination against the Irish Travelling community.

It is something that has long been one of the most shameful aspects of Irish society, where derogatory epithets against Travellers are still commonplace – the word “knacker” remains part of everyday vernacular for some – and it feels like the level of public discussion required is still only developing.

It is just over two years ago since a presidential candidate, Peter Casey, told the Irish Independent, when explaining his sympathy for those who lived near Traveller camps: “Do you think they are sitting here going, ‘this is great for my property value now that I’ve got three dozen caravans down the road’? It is just wrong.”

The comments were widely criticised, with incumbent president Michael D Higgins describing them as “appalling”. But on social media there was plenty of debate over whether Casey’s comments were actually correct. They had more backing than many people would like to admit.

Having been born and grown up in Ireland, and moved to England just under nine years ago, I can similarly recall people in housing estates trying to get neighbours to sign petitions if a Traveller camp set up nearby.

One of the most striking things about this Pontins disgrace is that it made me feel a sliver of the kind of discrimination the Travelling community face. It was not something I expected to experience in England. For all this country’s issues and ongoing discussions over race relations, this had always felt a distinctly Irish problem.

This story has disabused me of that notion. A sense of shock has also given way to a touch more understanding of the disgraceful discrimination Travellers face. That is one aspect that may, at least, be more welcome.