After the appointment of a number of protocol officers to President Mary McAleese, her secretary Brian McCarthy had expressed unhappiness that "the girls" should be allowed to accompany the President on official engagements, the High Court has heard.
Mr McCarthy had seen that "as more of his role", Colm Butler, former deputy secretary to the President, said in an affidavit.
Mr Butler said he was aware during his time at the Áras that some colleagues of protocol officer Bridget Conway resented her success in dealing with people and the nature of her relationship with the President.
Mr Butler, who was in the Áras from 1995 to 1998 and is now a principal officer with the Department of the Taoiseach, said he believed there was substance in Ms Conway's contention that she was the victim of a campaign to secure her removal from her position.
In proceedings before Mr Justice Kevin Feeney, Ms Conway, a higher executive officer in the Civil Service, of Clane Road, Celbridge, Co Kildare, has alleged that because of resentment about her close working relationship with the President, bogus disciplinary proceedings have been contrived against her by senior personnel in the office of the President's secretary with a view to removing her from her post.
Ms Conway claims there is no basis for the disciplinary proceedings and that these were embarked upon as a result of "personal animus" against her by Loughlin Quinn, personnel officer and now deputy secretary general in the office of the secretary to the President, and Mr McCarthy, secretary general in that office.
The proceedings have been brought against the Taoiseach, Ireland, the Attorney General and Brian Spain, a personnel officer in the Department of Defence, who has been nominated to conduct a disciplinary hearing concerning Ms Conway.
She is seeking an injunction from the High Court restraining her employers from embarking on a disciplinary investigation against her.
In his affidavit, Mr Butler said he was astonished at the allegations. When he was in the Áras he was most impressed by Ms Conway's performance and he found it unbelievable that she could be accused of bullying or of any wrongdoing that could constitute a breach of discipline.
He said he was aware there was resentment towards Ms Conway and some of her colleagues being assigned the roles of protocol officers, Mr Butler said. Shortly after their assignment, Mr McCarthy, during a conversation with him, had "expressed his unhappiness that 'the girls' should be allowed to accompany the President on her official engagements as he saw this as more as his role".
Mr Butler said he suspected this resentment was another symptom of people working in a small office serving a person of high profile who may not have the same relationship with everyone because of different degrees of contact.
"I can see this can lead to insecurity and resentment, especially where people are overly conscious of their own bureaucratic status . . ."I can see there could be difficulty for some people when lower grades are afforded what can be perceived to be a higher degree of access and recognition than their grade would warrant. It is a situation that I think needs to be carefully managed with maturity."
Mr Butler said that after the President returned from a visit to Irish troops in Lebanon in late 1997, Mr McCarthy complained her speech to the troops had been a "disaster" or similar such words.
"I had written the President's speech and on clarifying the matter with the President she told me it had been a tremendous speech. It had been well received and there were grown men crying," Mr Butler said.
"I formed the view that Mr McCarthy's earlier comment was probably due to an unfortunate degree of resentment on his part that my work had impressed the President."
In another affidavit, Catherine Eddery, assistant principal officer at the Department of the Taoiseach, said she had served seven years in the Áras office. She believed the allegations against Ms Conway were contrived as a means of removing her from her position in the Áras.
She had had an excellent working relationship with Ms Conway. She was not a dishonest or deceitful person in any way and none of the allegations of misconduct was in any way credible.
Following the bullying allegation, Ms Eddery said Ms Conway refused to take leave as recommended by Mr McCarthy and Mr Quinn. The hostility increased over the coming months. Ms Conway's standing among her staff suffered greatly.
Roddy Horan SC, for Ms Conway, said no complaints had been made by staff at the Áras in relation to the allegations in the disciplinary investigation against Ms Conway. Mr Horan said Mr Quinn was "rooting around" and had "busied himself in digging up" adverse material.
Mark Connaughton SC, for the defendants, said the only reason it was sought to join Mr Quinn and Mr McCarthy in the proceedings was for the purpose of embarrassment. The matter was a dispute between employer and employee.
The hearing resumes on Tuesday.