‘Sad tale of bigotry’: Employment at Queen’s University scrutinised
British papers: 1989 report showed 79% of NI-born staff were Protestant, 21% Catholic
A 1989 report by the Fair Employment Agency on Queen’s University Belfast, which then employed 3,000 staff, showed 79 per cent of the Northern Ireland-born employees were Protestant and 21 per cent Catholic. File photograph: Queen’s University Belfast
No sooner had the new 1989 Fair Employment Act, compelling employers in Northern Ireland to ensure equal opportunity for all, been passed into law than the British government was faced with a damning report on employment practices at Queen’s University Belfast.
The report by the Fair Employment Agency was the subject of a letter from R J Minnis of the Stormont Department of Economic Development to British minister Richard Needham on December 22nd, 1989.