Comments on: IrishRail’s gaywatch – Confirm they are on lookout to stop gay couples

By: gaelick» Politics » IarnrÃ³d Ã‰ireann? Mary Coughlan? Mary Hanafin? All a pack of shits

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 23:43:30 +0000

[...] You might also be interested in reading: Irish Rail’s Gaywatch – Confirm they are on the lookout to stop gay couples [...]

By: barry.mahon@iol.ie

barry.mahon@iol.ie — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 08:22:55 +0000

I just discovered that if you are a widow/widower when you reach 66 there is no option on your free travel pass to add a companion, i.e. a person who, when travelling with you, travels free….. a further piece of discrimination. I suppose you could ask for another pass if you have a partner, but why assume you don’t? Typical of the attitude of DFSA. My experience with them is that you have to demand your rights, they never tell you that you have any, their approach is always based on ‘prove it’ or ‘I’ll tell you what you can get’

Bye, Barry

By: T

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 09:54:58 +0000

Has this changed?

I just had a read of http://www.welfare.ie/publications/sw40.html, and I can find no mention of the word ’sex’ or ‘gender’ in the text at all. There is nothing on that page to say that the person accompanying you cannot be of the same sex.

It does make mention of husband and wife several times. That’s fair enough – the definition of ’spouse’ in this country is still ‘husband and wife’. But apart from that, here is the only quote I can find:

“Note:
Only the named person can use the Free Travel Pass, you cannot let another person use it.”

(Page Last Updated: 7th May 2008)

Part 2 of form FT1 mentions ’spouse/partner’, but makes no mention of opposite gender.
(FT1 is the form you fill in to apply for a Free Travel pass.)

By: Suzy Byrne

Suzy Byrne — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 16:25:56 +0000

A Companion pass for disabled person is different from age related pass Will.

see http://www.welfare.ie/publications/sw40.html#4

There is a pass for people with disabilities/under 66 which allows you to bring someone with you.

However if you are over 66 and not in receipt of carers allowance etc it must be your wife or cohabittee of the opposite sex

By: Will Knott

Will Knott — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 16:18:42 +0000

Is this one of those legal cases where a settlement should be refused in order to get the law declared unconstitutional, or is discrimination permitted under the constitution?

Of course you’ll need a couple (preferably newly civil partnered) to fight this one.

I thought a companion pass could include a named medical helper. So if a nurse of the same sex as the passenger tried to get a patient on a train who needs constant attention on board and accompany them for the trip, but is refused, is there a different law broken? With criminal consequences?

Please correct me if I’m way off on this one.

By: Simon Murphy

Simon Murphy — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 11:54:09 +0000

You should all drop a note to the Minister for Social Welfare Mary Hanafin and the Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey telling them how sickened you are by this. Their addresses are below:

info@welfare.ie
info@transport.ie
mary.hanafin@oireachtas.ie
noel.dempsey@oireachtas.ie

By: Damien

Damien — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 23:40:24 +0000

Awww

By: TheChrisD

TheChrisD — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 23:38:37 +0000

If he really loved me that much, he’d be just as cheap and stingy as I am and wouldn’t travel if he had to pay

By: Damien

Damien — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 23:33:04 +0000

Oh he’d still be able to travel with you but he’d have to pay. And I’m sure he would of course cos you have cute bears and all that. Meanwhile his sister could probably travel with you for free.

By: TheChrisD

TheChrisD — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 23:28:59 +0000

As I tweeted, it’s a load of crap what they’re doing.

Say I were to go find a man, fall in love with him and become a couple with him, then he wouldn’t be allowed to travel with me (Not saying that I’m actually looking for someone!)