Would a ban on tattoos and other cosmetics set a higher standard at work – or restrict who employers can hire in the future? 

The Vatican in Rome has banned workers at St Peter's Basilica from having visible tattoos or body piercings to maintain "decorum". 

Chief Political Writer of Spiked Online Brendan O’Neill said people should remember the Vatican is a “sacred” space. 

“You're in a house of God, so you expect there to be some rules and some decorum about how you present yourself,” he told The Hard Shoulder. 

“It makes perfect sense to me that the Vatican would say you can't go around looking like a sailor from the 1950s.” 

Mr O’Neill said a similar ban is also fair in other workplaces. 

“It's reasonable for certain corporations and retail outlets and other businesses to say we don't want you here presenting like that because we have a particular attitude and a particular approach,” he said. 

“I think we have to accept that we make choices in our lives that will then later on impact on where we can go and where we can't go.” 

Tattoos in work

HR expert Caroline Reidy said tattoos that “incite hatred” or “upset somebody’s personal preferences” might be banned – but they can’t be banned without reason. 

“We're in a society now where we're really strongly encouraging people's individuality,” she said. 

“We're going to really restrict a lot of candidates applying for jobs in our organisations if we were to put in a blanket ban [on tattoos].” 

Wildcat Tattoo Studios Owner Dolores Murray said she often discusses the impact of different tattoos with her clients. 

“We certainly would discuss with the person if they were going for any sort of tattoo that couldn't be covered by normal sort of clothing,” she said. 

“If that's what they want, that's what they want – they're all adults and we have free choice.” 

Girl with tattoo on back of neck. Image: Jeffrey Isaac Greenberg 9+ / Alamy Stock Photo

She said they would advise first-time clients against heavily visible tattoos – but tattoo artists shouldn’t police people’s choices. 

Mr O’Neill said individuality doesn’t always “override everything else”. 

“Sometimes we do have to flatten our individuality when we're engaging with wider society,” he said. 

A 2019 survey suggested roughly 35% of Irish people had at least one tattoo.

An Garda Síochána currently has a ban on tattoos above the neck.

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