A Cork bar owner has ‘kissed and made up’ with two gay students who were allegedly ejected from his premises for kissing on the dance floor.
Ger Kiely, owner of the Old Oak pub in the Leeside city centre, has apologized to the young men involved and claimed his bar is ‘gay friendly’.
The students, aged 19 and 21 respectively, had threatened legal action after a war of words broke out with the pub’s landlord.
The two parties met on Tuesday however when they agreed to settle their differences and move on.
Kiely apologized for the actions of his staff after one of his bouncers asked the students to leave the premises having earlier issued them with a verbal warning for inappropriate behavior.
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The couple also admitted after their meeting with Kiely that they could have handled the incident ‘differently’.
Witnesses told the Irish Examiner that the couple had been warned to ‘tone down’ their behavior when they entered the popular establishment on Oliver Plunkett Street in Cork.
The pair, apparently on a first date, were given a verbal warning after an initial kiss then asked to leave the premises when they kissed again on the dance floor in the early hours of last Saturday morning.
Owner Kiely insisted that his pub is a ‘gay-friendly’ establishment, had always welcomed gay customers and would continue to do so.
“Why would I do anything to upset a large proportion of my customers? We do not differentiate between gay and straight people in the Old Oak. It’s not just about business either,” said Kiely.
“We know how to conduct ourselves properly and we have never, and will never, discriminate.”
Kiely made his comments after an online war of words between the parties. One of the students involved had threatened to take his case to the Equality Authority.
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.SingleDonald | Aug 25, 2011, 05:23 PM EDT
I am hardly a "holier than thou halfwit"! I merely feel that gay people should confine their smooching & other acts of affection to gay venues, and to private settings. Yes, I feel that consensual dating, straight or gay, is none of a boss's business, so long as it: 1) Is consensual; 2)Is done after work, and 3)No overt favoritism or negative treatment is displayed, because of the after hours association!
eiriamach | Aug 25, 2011, 07:04 AM EDT
Loosen up, especially SingleDonald, who often insists on his right to have his special kind of relationship despite societal and workplace norms! This dating couple didn't turn Mr. Kiely's pub into Woodstock II. They didn't throw an impromptu orgy in the Old Oak. Most pub patrons wouldn't even notice a kiss between a couple.
JimMcGarity | Aug 24, 2011, 10:50 PM EDT
I never kiss or fondle my wife out in public. So why do the gays have to play with each other so everyone can see. Become priest.
hollabackgurl | Aug 24, 2011, 10:33 PM EDT
Some people are born gay. If their choice is to have sex with the people they are naturally attracted to or live a sexless, unhappy existence so as not to offend odious holier than thou halfwits like SingleDonald and Wanakbrannan I know which one I'd choose.
SingleDonald | Aug 24, 2011, 08:45 PM EDT
Typo below; of course I meant to write "homosexuals", in the 1st sentence!
SingleDonald | Aug 24, 2011, 08:43 PM EDT
I know I will be criticized for this, but, here goes. I do believe that honosexuals and lesbians, when entering a heterosexual venue, should refrain from kissing, and performing other affectionate acts. Most of society is straight, and we consider such things as two men smooching, or slow dancing together, to be abnormal, and offensive. If they want to do those things, they should go to gay bars, and other gay hangouts. Yes, if a heterosexual couple agreed to accompany a gay friend into one of these establishments, they should similarly refrain from smooching and close slow dancing, while inside. BTW, gay poet Allen Ginsberg was once asked this: If God gave you a choice, before you were born, would you have chosen to like guys, or girls. The poet's answer is revealing. He said that, of course, he would have chosen to like girls! I read this when he passed away, in 1997.
oldboreen | Aug 24, 2011, 06:03 PM EDT
Are you seriously suggesting wanakbrannan,that God our creator occasionally 'gets it wrong'?? Gay men and women KNOW they are different, with out having any understanding of what it is to be 'gay', long before pubescence!Ever asked any? Somehow I doubt it.
bunbegdonegal | Aug 24, 2011, 02:13 PM EDT
Apparently, Guayness is good for you!
alisaann | Aug 24, 2011, 12:42 PM EDT
i'm glad this was STRAIGHTENED between the GAY couple and the owner.....HOWEVER, i highly suggest he has a TALK with his staff and makes it CLEAR that his pub is GAY FRIENDLY. STAND UP FOR WHAT'S RIGHT: EQUAL RIGHTS FOR which includes GAY RIGHTS. alisa
RyanLocke | Aug 24, 2011, 11:10 AM EDT
I'd say God is watching. She made gay people in Her image and likeness too you know.