Would I recommend Hibernia Inn? Absolutely not! My mother works for an amazing organisation which helps those with mental and physical challenges. On a recent excursion to Bray with several challenged children and adults, my mother and her co-workers decided to eat in the Hibernia Inn, Bray, where they received a less then welcoming reception. Not only were they left waiting an hour and a half for their meal, when they finally recieved their meals they were over done, so much so that my mother feared for her teeth. She orderd a BLT and she received a rock solid ciabatta with no bacon, one miniture cherry tomato and a lump of butter. Her co-worker ordered a club sandwich which was not even toasted. The food, we can deal with but the worst part of my mothers visit to Hibernia Inn was the disgusting treatment the children received from the management and the staff. These children, who are mentally and physically challenged, were referred to as 'challenging' in a smart and sarcastic tone by a male member of staff, possiblly the manager. This same male staff member remarked that he would prefer notice before these children entered the Hibernia Inn. Never in my life have I heard such disgusting treatment of people with mental and physical challenges. Unfortunately this is not the first time this has occurred. A few weeks ago, my mother and her co-workers entered the Hibernia Inn with physically and mentally challenged people where they were escorted to the back of the establishment by the same male staff member. They were put in a leaking corner where my mother was forced to clear the tables herself because they were ignored by staff. You may be wondering why, after such a terrible first experience, why would my mother and her co-workers return? The simple answer is, lack of another option. On such a beautiful Saturday in Bray, the only empty establishment was the Hibernia Inn, I wonder why! Unfortunately there is more to this story. A lovely old man entered the Hibernia Inn for his dinner, were he decided to sit with my mother and her co-workers and all the children. He was left waiting for over an hour to be served. My mother decided to get the attention of a staff member on behalf of the elderly man. My mother approached a female staff member and mentioned that the man had been waiting for over an hour to be served. The female staff member replied 'Ah I thought he was with you people'. After leaving Hibernia Inn, the physically and mentally challenged people, some of whom are wheelchair users, were boarding their bus when they came into some difficulty with their vehicle. The lift for wheelchairs malfunctioned and my mother and her co-workers were struggling to board the wheelchair users. At no point did any member of staff approach the people and offer assistance. The bus used for this particular excursion was a 16 seater bus and could not have been missed. When my mothers co-worker reentered the Hibernia Inn to ask for information on a taxi service, she received no help whatsoever. I cannot believe, in this day and age, that there is still huge discrimination against people with mental and physical challenges and also elderly people. The staff of the Hibernia Inn were rude, ignorant and inconsiderate. They were openly discriminative against these people. I will make sure, if it is the last thing I do, that everyone possible will know about the disgusting behaviour going on in the Hibernia Inn. I will be commenting on as many social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, restaurant blogs and my local newspaper informing the public of this heinous establishment, Hibernia Inn. read more
