Lecturers seek promotion equality

A lecturer who won a landmark equality case against NUI Galway is to make her €70,000 award available to help five female colleagues similarly fight their cases.

Micheline Sheehy Skeffington, a botanist, had remained un-promoted for 24 years, despite applying for promotion to senior lecturer grade on five occasions. She took early retirement in September of this year, but not before taking her case to the Equality Tribunal.

In its finding a fortnight ago, the tribunal described NUI Galway’s interview process for staff seeking promotion as “ramshackle”, its attitude towards female staff’s maternity leave “unjustified”, and its overlooking of weaknesses in the CVs of male staff “worrying”.