South Dublin school seeks reporting restrictions in teacher keffiyeh case

A south Dublin school accused of forcing out two members of staff for wearing the Palestinian keffiyeh scarf has sought a media gag order covering the case.

Lawyers for Harcourt Terrace Educate Together National School have sought a ruling from the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) barring the media from naming it in connection with rights claims brought by teacher Aaron Neville.

They cited a series of emails sent to the school apparently prompted by media reports on an allied case earlier this year, and a “sinister” and “distressing” bomb threat email it received on Wednesday morning.

Opposing the motion, Neville’s barrister Michael Kinsley said “every single school in the country” got the same email, a fact known to “anybody who’s a member of a national school WhatsApp group”.

Neville has brought complaints under the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977 and the Employment Equality Act 1998 against Harcourt Terrace Educate Together National School in Dublin 2.

Kinsley, instructed by Karl Gill of Ferrys Solicitors, said his client’s case was about the “same issue” as the allied case brought by former colleague Sarah O’Mahony, a special needs assistant, which opened before the WRC in June this year.

Both Neville and O’Mahony allege in their complaints that they were forced to quit over the attitude of management to their wearing of Palestinian keffiyeh scarves after complaints from parents, the WRC has heard.

Kevin Roche, instructed by Mason, Hayes and Curran for the school, sought media restrictions when Neville’s case was called on, arguing that naming the school in relation to the dispute might identify certain parties connected to the school.

He said it would be necessary for him to refer to complaints made to the principal by certain parents and that any report on the matter “may seek to identify them”.

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Kinsley said it would be “legitimate and appropriate” to anonymise the names of parents and students in the course of proceedings.

Roche said this would be insufficient. “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,” he said.

Kinsley said 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,” he said.

Adjudication officer Pat Brady said there were “very significant issues of principle involved from the point of view of open justice”.

He said he would adjourn the matter and give his decision on Roche’s application on the next available date for the case.

Roche asked Brady about an interim restriction on reporting pending the next day of hearings. Brady did not make an order. He then closed the hearing.