'Top o' the mornin' | Worker sacked for using mock Irish accent was unfairly dismissed

A factory worker who was sacked for saying “Top of the morning to ya” in a mock Irish accent has won his claim for unfair dismissal, after a tribunal found his employer failed to carry out a fair investigation.

Mr K. Davies had worked for food manufacturer Oscar Mayer for almost 27 years when he was dismissed in September 2024. The dismissal followed an incident in which Davies greeted a colleague in a mock Irish accent while listening to the Dubliners’ song Grace.

The tribunal heard that Davies, who worked as an engineering storeman at the company’s Wrexham site, repeated the phrase several times towards his manager, Mr Millward, after feeling ignored. According to Employment Judge T. Vincent Ryan, “He greeted Mr Millward in a mock Irish accent saying, ‘Top of the morning to ya!’

“He was goading Mr Millward; being repetitive to draw attention, and to make a point that Mr Millward had not acknowledged him.”