Vintners' body employees sue for unfair dismissal

THE VINTNERS’ Federation of Ireland (VFI), which represents rural publicans, lost 300 members last year, it has emerged.

Similar numbers were lost in both 2005 and 2006, the organisation’s new chief executive Pádraig Cribben told the Employment Appeals Tribunal yesterday.

A hearing involving the VFI was told that the organisation lost 120 members in the first quarter of 2007 largely, it said, because of the smoking ban and the introduction of random breath-testing for motorists. Some 30 members were lost in the first quarter of this year.

The VFI is claiming that it had to make five regional representatives, one of whom retired, redundant because the closure of 1,400 rural pubs over the last four years, made it economically unviable for them to carry on.

Two of the former regional representatives, Liam Sheehan (63) Main Street, Cappaghwhite, Co Tipperary, and John O’Brien (58), Highlands Creagh, Gorey, Co Wexford, are suing the federation for unfair dismissal.

Counsel for both men Stephen O’Sullivan said that accounts for 2007 showed that subscriptions from members actually increased from €1.527 million in 2006 to €1.548 million in 2007 and the real reason was because the VFI no longer wanted to pay expenses to their regional representatives.

“It is clear in the evidence that the redundancy of these two claimants was not wholly or mainly connected with a redundancy situation,” he said.

However, Mark Connaughton SC, counsel for the VFI, said the decision to make the four redundant was a “classic case of redundancy” as their positions no longer existed. He said it was “nonsensical” to suggest that the national executive committee of the VFI, which amounted to its board, did not have the power to take decisions, such as making the four regional representatives redundant.

The tribunal has reserved its judgment in the case for six weeks.