A south Dublin school sought reporting restrictions at the Workplace Relations Commission on Wednesday to prevent media from identifying it in rights claims brought by a teacher wearing a Palestinian keffiyeh.
- Harcourt Terrace Educate Together National School asked the Workplace Relations Commission for an interim reporting restriction on Wednesday.
- Lawyers for the school cited a bomb threat email received on Wednesday morning alongside prior messages prompted by media coverage of an allied case.
- Adjudication officer Pat Brady adjourned the application for a decision on a future date without granting an interim order.
Lawyers for Harcourt Terrace Educate Together National School asked the Workplace Relations Commission for a ruling on Wednesday to bar the media from naming the institution. The school faces rights claims brought by teacher Aaron Neville over allegations he was forced to quit.
Legal representatives cited a series of emails sent to the school after media reports on an allied case earlier this year. They also pointed to a “sinister” and “distressing” bomb threat email received on Wednesday morning, The Irish Times reported.
Kevin Roche, instructed by Mason, Hayes and Curran for the school, argued that naming the school in relation to the dispute might identify certain parents connected to the proceedings.
“I cannot say the texts of these threats were spurred by this litigation, but it has the potential to get out of control very quickly, and at that stage the cat is out of the bag,” Roche told the Workplace Relations Commission.
Opposing the motion, Michael Kinsley argued that “every single school in the country” received the same email, a fact known to “anybody who’s a member of a national school WhatsApp group”. Kinsley is instructed by Karl Gill of Ferrys Solicitors for Neville. Neville has brought complaints under the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977 and the Employment Equality Act 1998 against the school located in Dublin 2.
Kinsley told the Workplace Relations Commission that Neville’s case involves the “same issue” as an allied case brought by former colleague Sarah O’Mahony. O’Mahony, a special needs assistant, opened her case before the Workplace Relations Commission in June. Both staff members allege they were forced to resign over management’s attitude toward wearing Palestinian keffiyeh scarves following complaints from parents.
| Claimant | Role | Legal Acts Cited |
|---|---|---|
| Aaron Neville | Teacher | Unfair Dismissals Act 1977, Employment Equality Act 1998 |
| Sarah O’Mahony | Special Needs Assistant | Employment Rights Legislation |
Kinsley argued that it would be “legitimate and appropriate” to anonymise the names of parents and students during the proceedings. Roche responded that anonymisation would be insufficient to protect identities. Kinsley added that the allied case brought by O’Mahony had already been “reported in full Technicolor” in any event. “If the cat is out of the bag, it is well and truly out,” Kinsley told the Workplace Relations Commission.
Adjudication officer Pat Brady said that the application involved “very significant issues of principle involved from the point of view of open justice”. Brady adjourned the matter to deliver his decision on Roche’s application on the next available hearing date. Brady did not make an interim reporting order before closing the hearing on Wednesday.
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