The High Court has put a stop to Professor Philip Nolan’s dismissal from his post as the Director General of Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) following claims that he has been ‘wronged significantly.’ The ruling was made by Mr Justice Rory Mulcahy who declares that the case Mr Nolan has laid out is robust and likely to be victorious in court, warranting a decision to block his dismissal until the case resumes on Friday afternoon.
SFI was absent when the application was submitted on Thursday afternoon. It will be informed to enable it to respond to the allegations on Friday. Mr Nolan’s lawyers argue there is ‘absolutely no grounds’ for his summary dismissal which occurred ‘in the crudest way possible’ the previous Monday evening.
The publicly funded scientific agency announced on Tuesday morning that Mr Nolan was replaced as the director general and a new acting superior was assigned. The SFI board was due to review the outcome of an inquiry into five misconduct allegations from senior staff against Mr Nolan, which he fervently denies.
During the hearing, Padraic Lyons SC, on instructions from Daniel Spring & Co Solicitors, asserted that his client “strenuously” opposes inappropriate behaviour and has never been subjected to professional grievances throughout his entire public service career.
Furthermore, the court was informed that the inquiry into the protected disclosures concluded with no bullying findings. Instead, the investigative report mentions inappropriate behavior that may necessitate a disciplinary hearing, as pointed out by Mr Lyons.
Mr Lyons further stated the report “unambiguously envisions that any proposed action should follow a due process”, but contrary to this, the board, after receiving the report, made a complete U-turn and proceeded with a “one-of-a-kind course of action that was highly injurious to Prof Nolan.” The board effectively concluded that the mere accusation was good enough to end his employment. However, Mr Lyons said his client has been unfairly denied the opportunity to have a say in crucial issues, and if this situation remains, his reputation could be “unrecoverably” blemished.
Counsel has expressed that Mr Nolan, the former president of Maynooth University, holds “a stronger than average case” for obtaining a provisional injunction to avoid his expulsion. The counsel asserted that while usual instances of this nature often question if just practices were fully upheld, Mr Nolan’s situation is much different. It is referred to as a “no procedures case”.
Becoming notoriously known to the broader public through his role on the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) amidst Covid-19, Mr. Nolan led the disease monitoring subgroup. The subgroup projected possible situations to both the public and the government.
Scheduled to helm an expanded national research committee, Research Ireland, Mr. Nolan’s future role was based on the consolidation of the Irish Research Council and the SFI.
An independent examination into the charges of misconduct reportedly discovered no corporate governance violations by Mr. Nolan. The inspection did not record any proof of wrongdoing against him, nor did it find his behaviour to be intimidating.
However, it is reported that the outcome of the investigation established that his behavior towards the concerned staff was “inappropriate”, and described as “upper level” in regards to two senior staff members.
By late December, the overseeing agency, responsible for allocating over €200 million in grants, had received safeguarded disclosures against Mr Nolan.
Serious allegations of misconduct against Mr Nolan emerged early this month. In response, SFI stated they gave top priority to the investigation and pledged to uphold a procedure that was “fair, robust, and thorough”.