Stephen Nolan thrown out of fry café after confrontation with owner over online post mocking obese people
Liam Tunney Today at 11:50
Stephen Nolan has been thrown out of a cafe in east Belfast on Tuesday morning after confronting the owner about his comments on social media targeting obese people using mobility scooters.
The content was posted to the Facebook and Instagram accounts of east Belfast eatery Belfast Breakfast Baps on Sunday afternoon.
Mark Young is listed on Companies House as the sole director of the company, which was incorporated in April last year.
It’s like we are not considered as people any more – Dermot Devlin
The post featured a photo of a mobility scooter, with a caption reading: “If you’re in one of these because you’re morbidly obese please know you are not disabled, you’re fat and probably not very useful.
"It most definitely is your fault. Thyroid issues are workable and you are taking away resources from those who actually deserve not (sic).
"How about park the mobility scooter and walk fatty and maybe even eventually run.”
Despite the criticism, Belfast Breakfast Baps’ menu yesterday featured a large fry, a £9 ‘Goliath’ bap containing two sausages, two slices of bacon, two eggs, and black or white pudding, and a sausage and bacon potato bread stack.
The post has been shared on Facebook more than 260 times, attracting over 573 comments.
On Tuesday morning, BBC’s Stephen Nolan went to the business but was thrown out and allegedly called a “Covid chaser” by owner Mark Young.
Nolan also claimed that he told one of his colleagues: “Nolan is two stone off a mobility scooter himself.”
A video posted on the business's Facebook page appears to show Nolan being asked to leave the premises.
A caption posted with the video read: “When Nolan shows up to stir the pot he was put out.
"Wouldn’t want him about the place under any circumstances.”
Dermot Devlin, founder of disability rights organisation My Way Access, said the post was symptomatic of a wider environment where disabled people were becoming the butt of jokes.
"For this company to come out and laugh, mock and abuse people that are overweight and use mobility scooters is a disgrace,” he told the Belfast Telegraph.
"It feels like it’s feeding into a wider narrative. The Assisted Dying Act, the welfare cuts coming through Westminster.
"This is a side effect of it, because other people pick up on that and feel like it’s proper and right to comment on these issues in this way.
"Body shaming is an absolute disgrace anyway, but there could also be weight issues related to hidden disabilities, not being able to exercise, thyroid issues, maybe mental health problems, fibromyalgia.”
Mr Devlin also said Mr Young may have been cynically levering the rage caused by the post to boost engagement with his business.
“I’ve seen people challenging it and he was putting up more posts mocking them. He has got loads of engagement from that, but it shows again what has happened in recent years,” he said.
"We feel more and more isolated and are now becoming the butt of jokes. People are mocking and laughing.
"Businesses it seems are now going down that route and people that you would consider friends, you can see them laughing at these posts and saying they agree.
"It’s very upsetting seeing people that you thought were ‘allies’ engaging in this in this fashion.
"With everything that is happening in politics, we are feeling more and more disenfranchised as a community and it’s like we are not considered as people any more.
"Some people might be reading this and saying “don’t be so melodramatic’ but I can tell you how much pain and hurt we are experiencing now.”
When approached by this newspaper, Mr Young said his post was “not aimed at the disabled”.
"As the post clearly states it’s aimed at the fat people who use them and take away vital resources,” he said.
"Unlike disabled folk, who have a genuine need for them, they could walk and lose weight. Anyway, it is what it is and people have and can take whatever they want from it.
"Our charitable side of the business, and the lengths we go to to support the local food bank, offering free school breakfast in January and free Christmas dinners on Christmas Day should be all the evidence required for people to know we are a business with a heart.”
Asked to comment on whether he accepted those with obesity may have underlying disabilities that leave them unable to exercise effectively, Mr Young added: “I’ve said all I need to say. Much love.”