Inquiry into allegations against principal
Gearóid O’Brien, the first lay principal of the 1,250-student De La Salle Secondary School in Waterford City, yesterday asked the High Court to order his reinstatement pending the hearing of proceedings over his suspension last February.
However, the hearing was adjourned indefinitely after the school managers offered to carry out a new independent investigation into the allegations against him which include that he provided false enrolment figures so that he could get a certain amount of funding from the Department of Education.
He is also accused of mismanaging school funds to invest in capital projects and the school is now in debt to the tune of around €500,000, Mairéad McKenna, counsel for the school managers said. He denies all the allegations.
Following an offer in court from Ms McKenna of a new independent investigation, Mr Justice Michael Moriarty agreed to adjourn the matter generally to allow the inquiry take place. The court heard Mr O’Brien was prepared to fully co-operate with the investigation which would start immediately but he reserved his right to re-enter the case.
Earlier, Mark Connaughton, counsel for Mr O’Brien, said his client was appointed principal in Sept 2008 and in conjunction with the school board of management “assiduously discharged” his responsibilities.
In May 2012, the Le Chéile Schools Trust, an umbrella body for schools formerly run by 14 religious congregations, abolished the De La Salle board of management in conjunction with the minister for education, Mr Connaughton said.
Michael Denny was appointed sole manager and Patrick Hogan was later also appointed as a manager. Last February, the new management suspended Mr O’Brien and in May, a decision was taken to elevate the allegations against him to ones of serious or gross misconduct to be dealt with under the school’s summary disciplinary procedure.
Mr O’Brien then brought High Court proceedings challenging, among other things, the decision to suspend him, the failure to provide him with an independent investigation and also challenging the appointment of the new management. He also sought reinstatement.
His counsel said he was seeking the orders, pending a full hearing of his case, because of the damage the suspension can do to his reputation and because any award of damages would not be sufficient to vindicate him.
Ms McKenna, on behalf of Le Cheile and the school management, said it was important to note that everything in this case was in issue between the parties. But the offer of a new independent investigation was made without prejudice and on the basis that Mr O’Brien would fully co-operate with it.
Mr Justice Moriarty said he was happy both sides had partly accommodated each other in relation to the dispute.
He refuse an application to award legal costs at this stage and said he would leave that to another day.
