John Hamill, an advocate for secularism, who accuses Hazel Chu, the previous lord mayor of Dublin, of enjoying the company of religious chiefs, has been unsuccessful in his discrimination lawsuit in relation to several religious events hosted nearly four years ago. Mr. Hamill had argued that his organisation, the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster in Ireland, along with other non-religious bodies, were not given access to public services during the time the ceremonies were conducted in the Mansion House gardens in December 2020. His claim under the Equal Status Act 2000 was dismissed by the Workplace Relations Commission, which made this decision public on Tuesday.
Religious organisations organised various religious ceremonies in the open space of the Mansion House as a part of an initiative commemorating major religious holidays, during the interruption caused by the Covid-19 outbreak. Mr. Hamill’s contention was that non-religious groups, represented by an entity named Dublin City Inter-Non-Faith Forum, should have been allotted a time slot.
Representatives for Dublin City Council proposed that the issue involving any purported discrimination should have been directed to the Interfaith Forum since it was the organiser of the Rewind 2020 functions. Mr. Hamill explicated that the Dublin City Inter-Non-Faith Forum included the Alliance of Former Muslims, the Church of Naturalism, and the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster in Ireland, whose followers have a colloquial name “Pastafarians”.
During a hearing in March of the previous year, Hamill asserted that Ms. Chu, who was the lord mayor in 2020, prefers to fraternise with religious heads and that all non-religious factions were constantly and universally barred in every situation. When asked for further details about his group by the council’s counsel, Claire Bruton BL, Mr. Hamill answered that it was an extremely modest organisation and he was not authorised to reveal the members. However, he later admitted that the current number of members was definitely in the single digits although he hoped that it would increase in the future.
In the court proceedings, Ms Chu shared that her social circle comprises many individuals who do not practice any religion, with one belonging to Mr Hamill’s church. She expressed that this difference in religious belief was not a matter of concern or bias for her. She stated uncertainty about whether she received initial letters from Mr Hamill addressed to the mayor’s office prior to the Christmas break in 2020. This was a period where the majority of staff was operating remotely. She further informed the court that Mr Hamill persistently penned letters in 2021 requesting to use the Mansion House garden for his intended ceremony. However, due to a strict Covid-19 lockdown effective till April that year, the property was inaccessible to any group before May 17th.
Mr Hamill argued that the council held the view that a non-religious event could not be accommodated in the Mansion House garden, while Ms Chu had requested other groups to partake in happenings organized there. Ms Bruton refuted Mr Hamill’s claims as misinterpreted under law, clarifying that the Equal Status Act only identifies discrimination against individuals, not groups.
On being questioned about his claim, Mr Hamill stated he desired no monetary compensation but rather wished to spend half an hour in the said garden with members of the ex-Muslim alliance and the Naturalism group.
The adjudicator for WRC, Jim Dolan, drew a distinction between Dublin City’s Inter-Non-Faith Forum and Interfaith Forum. He expressed that the Interfaith Forum, which had been functional for over ten years, organized numerous events during this span, maintained an updated website, had an active social media presence, and employed a full-time worker. The forum was also officially registered as a charity with twenty-one constituent members.
Moreover, Mr Dolan shared doubts over when exactly the Alliance of Former Muslims, the Church of Naturalism in Ireland, and the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster in Ireland formed their alliance. He finalized that the grievance put forth was not substantiated and therefore was dismissed. The best discourse and commentary on politics can be found in our Inside Politics podcast.