West Cork parish priest ordered to reinstate unfairly dismissed sacristan

The Workplace Relations Commission has ordered that Fr John McCarthy reinstate Michael Keohane to his former role of parish sacristan in the Cork parish of Rosscarbery

West Cork parish priest unfairly dismissed a long serving sacristan after the Covid-19 pandemic put a hole in local church finances. File picture: Tim Boyle/Getty Images

A West Cork parish priest unfairly dismissed a long serving sacristan after the Covid-19 pandemic put a hole in local church finances.

That is according to Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) adjudicator Patsy Doyle, who has upheld Michael Keohane’s claim he was unfairly dismissed by way of redundancy by Fr John McCarthy in June 2020.