Some things will never Change

[Joxer]

From BBC NI

Tesco kids had to remove GAA gear 
 
A group of bag packers representing a GAA club were told to remove their club shirts at Tesco, it has emerged.

The children from St Comghall's club were taking part in a charity bag pack at Tesco in Antrim town.

However, after "very vociferous complaints both in person and on the phone", the company said it asked for team shirts to be removed.

A parent of one of the children involved said the shirts did not feature "anything contentious".

The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) is an all Ireland sporting and community organisation which in Northern Ireland is overwhelmingly supported by Catholics.

In the past some unionist politicians, including Northern Ireland's sports minister Gregory Campbell, have criticised it for not doing enough to improve community relations.

A spokesman for Tesco said: "It is our policy to ask that the groups wear their uniforms so customers will know the organisation for which they are collecting."

"This gives the customer the option to go to another checkout if they do not wish to support this particular organisation.

'Deviated'

"On Sunday, we had a number of very vociferous complaints both in person and on the phone, including one from a political representative regarding the wearing of the GAA shirts while the group were collecting.

"It is understandable that our duty manager then deviated from Tesco policy and asked that those packing should do so in plain T-shirts."


FROM BBC RADIO ULSTER

Declan Callan said he and his nine-year-old twin daughters arrived at the store only to be told they would have to go home and get changed.

"One of the club members came out and said 'I'm sorry you'll have to go home and get the girls changed because the manager has received a complaint and has asked us to take off our team regalia'," Mr Callan told Radio Ulster's Talk Back programme.

"The girls were a bit upset and couldn't understand the whole concept of somebody having an issue with the GAA.

"Nearly every weekend there's a club bag-packing there - Scouts, basketball, football and rugby teams... and they're always in their club regalia.

"The club T-shirts are plain green with black sleeves, and the club badge is just the round tower of Antrim. So there's nothing contentious and most of the ones bag-packing would have been under the age of 12.


  We are re-issuing our bag packing procedures today and would be disappointed if we had to discontinue this practice

Tesco spokesman
"When the store closed nobody came near us and said 'Look we're awful sorry about that or anything." They never came back near us."

The Tesco spokesman said that the complaints continued after the weekend.

"Subsequently we have had several complaints to the store both from those opposed to the GAA shirts being worn and those opposed to the duty manager asking for the shirts to be removed," he continued.

"We are re-issuing our bag packing procedures today and would be disappointed if we had to discontinue this practice as many charities and sporting organisations depend on this facility to raise funds.

'Offence'

"It is never our intention to cause offence so we rely on the co-operation and tolerance of our customers as we know that we can never please everyone."

The politician who complained was Ulster Unionist councillor Adrian Watson.

His party colleague Drew Ritchie said Tesco needs to review its policy to assure charity collections do not cause offence.

"The public don't mind giving to local charities but sometimes they do get confused when sports clubs are involved. Obviously offence has been caused to some customers," he added.

[Minder]

This is being discussed on the Non Gaa Section

[Joxer]

Well its a GAA matter

[Minder]

Tear away then.......

[orangeman]

Well its a GAA matter

So you did ! 

[Bing Crosby .]

Out and out psychopaths , unionist dirt . Tesco are a disgrace to acquiesce .

[magpie seanie]

Scubags - Tesco and the people who complained. Unfortunately no matter where you go you will never have to look too long to find an asshole. They're everywhere.

[Bud Wiser]

Me brothers lad from Laois plays for that club and he says its a great place altogether so if the bitter bowler hat wearing asshole thinks that the kids would be better off without the facilities that the fundraising was providing and instead going around joyriding or killing people then he should be reminded that his type are no longer listened to.  Unfortunately the manager of Tesco's listened to him and that was the mistake that was made here and is not in touch with his own companies mission statement as follows:

Our Core Purpose and Values define the way we do business, how we treat our customers, our people, each other and our suppliers. They help to define our responsibilities to the communities where our business operates and create the culture and environment in which our business strategy continues to deliver strong results. 

Customers are at the heart of everything we do. CSR is good for our business and good for the communities where we operate. By building goodwill and trust with our customers, we can earn their lifetime loyalty, which is our core purpose.

Corporate Social Responsibility reflects our Values.