That chap who was awarded £10k for "distress" caused by having to walk past a portrait of the Queen...

Some folk are definitely not right in the head !

It was a bonkers story.

Couldn't make it up as they say.

Ellan I think those that awarded him the payment are the ones that aren't right in the head!

He should have been told to either close his eyes or grow up, man up and grow a pair.

I agree Phoenix , did he refuse the money? It was covered in images of HM the Q.

Hear hear Phoenix! The world has gone bonkers!

as the offending portraits were replaced by others of HM performing duties in NI I suggest that the distress or offence must have been caused by the particular portraits rather than the face of the monarch.
How "refreshing" to see from the comments that when the assumption is that the issue is with the mental health of the complainant, then the answer is to mock, ridicule and abuse.

I can think of at least one GN poster who might feel like that, cos allegedly THE QUEEN and ALL HER FAMILY are a bunch of PARASITES, even if she does use old tupperware containers to keep her bits and pieces in SHE's STILL GOT ALL THOSE PALACES ..... anyway I SHAN'T be naming NAMES!

Oh FFS!

Out of interest, do Northern Ireland’s bank notes have the queen’s image on them?

Just to clarify, my post of 19.03 was meant for Seakay

Agree Phoenix your post of 18.02 is spot on.

£10k because a portrait of the queen upset him. The world has truly gone mad.

You are absolutely right it offends me that they exist at all .out of date concept in amodern world...I do understand that there are a lot of royal ass kissers on here though so please dont think I'm annoyed by being quoted.Parasites is fairly harmless compared to some things I can call them .

I was just going to start a thread about this, when I found this one! I saw this on BBC News yesterday morning. (But, oddly, there has been no further mention of it on any news channel.)

Fake news? I wonder ...

The whole story isn't reported here!

This man works at Stormont, the NI Government Offices. He complained that every day he had to walk past a portrait of the Queen, which 'distressed' him. And he was compensated for his 'distress' to the tune of £10,000!

Yes, as some other posters have said - the world's gone mad!

My message to this w*nker would be: Northern Ireland is part of the UK. The Queen is Head of State. Stormont is the Government offices of Northern Ireland. If you don't like working there - get another job! (Preferably, south of the border!)

Whose the idiot here?

The judge.

I’m making a mental note of all the things I have to pass on a daily basis that distress me. Thinking I could make myself a pretty penny if I play my cards right

I was shocked to hear this reported on the news yesterday. How could a civil servant suffer so much distress at the sight of photographs of the Queen, s/he was awarded £10,000?!

It's not unusual for public offices to have photographs of the Queen, certainly every Police station does. She's our head of state. If you're a public servant in part of the UK, that's part of the deal. The very idea that one person's 'distress' on an issue like this could lead to images of the Queen being removed is a total puzzle to me. It makes no sense at all.

We must be missing part of the story here, surely. Victims of crimes who suffer life changing emotional difficulties don't get that much compensation.

According to the report in The Independent the case was handled in secret and the £10k payout approved by Theresa Villiers. Reading between the lines it seems there may be a lot of politics at play here! DUP vs others! I suspect this is not just for distress at portraits but a " voluntary redundancy" payout to keep something else out of the news! It happened a while back & is being re- visited! There will be more to this than meets the eye!

I do hope so, PECS, otherwise it sounds like lunacy.

Radio 4 reported this case as : the civil servant at Stormont brought this case almost to court, so the pay out was an out of court settlement ( fearing it would cost more if indeed it did go to court.) In NI you can identify as British or Irish and the power sharing reflects that ( or did!) He obviously doesn’t feel British and the painting of the Queen offends his sensibilities.
Personally, I would say ‘tough’ To any who feel this way in Stormont, NI is part of the UK.Fears of litigation should not make us afraid of taking the right steps.

I also read the reports in various papers and there does appear to be more to this than offence at a pic of the Queen!

I am Welsh, an English PofWales offends my sensibilities, ?