Wexford gaelscoil lodges Supreme Court appeal against order to reinstate former principal

A Co Wexford gaelscoil’s board of management has formally lodged an appeal with the Supreme Court against a lower court’s orders to reinstate the school’s principal, who was found to have been unfairly dismissed more than a decade ago, to his job.

The appeal has been brought by the board of Gaelscoil Moshiolog in Gorey, Co Wexford, against High Court judge Mr Justice Brian Cregan’s finding that Mr Aodhagán Ó Suird be re-engaged as the school’s head teacher.

The judge said that Mr Ó Suird had suffered a terrible injustice due to misjudgments by the board which the court said had a “vendetta” against the principal. In July the judge dismissed the board’s appeal from the Labour Court that Mr Ó Suird, represented by Padraic Lyons SC, Hugh McDowell Bl, and solicitor Robert Dore, against a finding that their client had been unfairly dismissed.

Wrongly dismissed

He directed that Mr Ó Suird be re-engaged as the school’s principal from August 4th last.

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The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), as well as the Labour Court, had also found that Mr Ó Suird had been wrongly dismissed by the board.

Earlier this week the board formally lodged its appeal against the High Court’s decision with the Supreme Court.

A panel of three Supreme Court judges will consider submissions from the parties on whether the appeal raises any legal issues of general public importance that the court deems that it needs to determine.

The court will then issue a written determination of the application.

No date has been fixed for the hearing of those submissions.

In his rulings, the judge granted several other orders in Mr Ó Suird favour, including that all arrears of pay and entitlements due be paid to him.

[ Unfairly dismissed principal who endured ‘terrible injustice’ over 11 years must be reinstated, judge rules ]

The judge also ruled that the board pay Mr Ó Suird’s legal costs on the “practitioner-client” basis, which is a higher scale than the normal legal fees.

The judge also declined to place a stay on his order that Mr Ó Suird be re-engaged by the school’s board pending an appeal to the Supreme Court.

The judge, commenting on a possible appeal to the Supreme Court by the board, also said in his judgement that the board should not “waste further taxpayers’ money on legal battles”.

“It is well past time, in my view, for the vendetta to come to an end. It is time for the board to accept that it unfairly dismissed Mr Ó Suird and seek to make amends.” said the judge.

Mr Ó Suird, he said, is entitled to resume his professional life and career.

Mr Ó Suird was put on administrative leave in 2012 following a complaint that he had pulled a seated first-class student by the jumper to remonstrate with the boy.

The boy’s parents accepted his apology, but other parents made complaints that led to his suspension in May 2013 and his dismissal in November 2015.

The Health Service Executive found in November 2012 that the matter did not involve the physical abuse of a child and told the school to investigate the matter itself.

Enrolment figures

The judge said the board then began investigating claims that Mr Ó Suird had inflated school enrolment figures to the Department of Education in 2009.

That resulted in a disciplinary process that ultimately resulted in his dismissal.

The judge said the case was not one about child protection but enrolment figures submitted to the department 14 years ago.

In the disciplinary proceedings, the judge said the board had “deliberately exaggerated” charges against Mr Ó Suird, made “unfounded allegations of fraud” against him, had withheld information from him, and ignored his evidence.

Those allegations were “endlessly recycled” by the WRC, Labour Court, and High Court, in an “unprincipled attempt to blacken his name”, said the judge.

It was clear, added the judge, that the board had “an animus” against Mr Ó Suird and had sought to destroy his reputation.