An English pipe fitter has been awarded €20,000 in compensation after an Equality Tribunal ruled he had suffered racial abuse within his Irish workplace.

The man, who wanted to remain anonymous, was working for an engineering firm, at a Dublin building site, when fellow workers bombarded him with abuse.

The man said colleagues called him names and frequently ganged-up on him to sing Irish rebel songs.

Some workers never spoke to him and would say "send the Brit in" to make the way safe whenever staff had to enter tanks or dangerous spaces.

The man said he was taunted by negative reports about England in newspapers and co-workers insisted on reading out the country's performance in the 2006 World Cup in his presence.

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He told an Equality Tribunal he began eating lunch in his car shortly after joining the firm in April 2006 because the abuse he suffered in the staff canteen was so bad.

The man was made redundant just two months after starting work with the firm.

He alleged he was sacked instead of a less experienced Irish worker because he was British.

On the issue of redundancy, the man claimed a fellow worker had stated: "The Brit should be sacked and an Irish man should not be let go."

Another was said to have told the site supervisor: "No Irish man is going out of the gate while we employ a Brit."

The man described his supervisor as intimidating and claimed he joined in with the abuse, sometimes sniggering and laughing.

The company insisted the man had never approached management about the situation and rejected his allegations.

It insisted the man was laid-off because he had less service than other site workers.

The board of the Equality Tribunal found the man was racially harassed and that some of the acts were of a blatant and intimidating nature.

The company was ordered to pay the man €20,000 in compensation.

However, it ruled the company did not select the man for redundancy because of his nationality.

(PR/JM)