News that a Tesco store in Antrim town ordered bag packers from the local St. Comgall's GAA club to remove their jerseys has caused outrage in GAA circles in the county and beyond. The children were taking part in a charity bag pack on Sunday when they were told to remove their shirts after customers had complained that the jerseys were offensive. One of the complaints was made by local Ulster Unionist councillor Adrian Watson. A parent of one of the children involved said the shirts did not feature "anything contentious". A spokesman for Tesco admitted that the store had been forced to change its policy regarding the wearing of club shirts following the complaints He said: "It is our policy to ask that the groups wear their uniforms so customers will know the organisation for which they are collecting. This gives the customer the option to go to another checkout if they do not wish to support this particular organisation. "On Sunday, we had a number of very vociferous complaints both in person and on the phone, including one from a political representative regarding the wearing of the GAA shirts while the group were collecting. "It is understandable that our duty manager then deviated from Tesco policy and asked that those packing should do so in plain T-shirts." Speaking on Radio Ulster, St. Comgall's club member Declan Callan said he and his nine-year-old twin daughters arrived at the store only to be told they would have to go home and get changed. "One of the club members came out and said 'I'm sorry you'll have to go home and get the girls changed because the manager has received a complaint and has asked us to take off our team regalia'. "The girls were a bit upset and couldn't understand the whole concept of somebody having an issue with the GAA. "Nearly every weekend there's a club bag-packing there - scouts, basketball, football and rugby teams... and they're always in their club regalia. "The club T-shirts are plain green with black sleeves, and the club badge is just the round tower of Antrim. So there's nothing contentious and most of the ones bag-packing would have been under the age of 12. "When the store closed nobody came near us and said 'Look we're awful sorry about that or anything." They never came back near us." The Tesco spokesman said that the complaints continued after the weekend. "Subsequently we have had several complaints to the store both from those opposed to the GAA shirts being worn and those opposed to the duty manager asking for the shirts to be removed," he added. "We are re-issuing our bag packing procedures today and would be disappointed if we had to discontinue this practice as many charities and sporting organisations depend on this facility to raise funds. "It is never our intention to cause offence so we rely on the co-operation and tolerance of our customers as we know that we can never please everyone." Tweet

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