Niamh Quinn, the headmistress of Templeogue College, has chosen not to testify against accusations of student indiscipline and allegations of unfair punishment towards a teacher who expressed public concern about the management operations of the Spritan-run boys’ South Dublin secondary school.
The educational institution’s legal representation communicated at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) hearing on Friday that the headmistress would not be brought in as a witness. Initially, it was anticipated that Quinn would provide testimony denying the surging indiscipline within the school, and allegations against her conduct towards Jennifer Clancy – a former part-time Spanish tutor. Clancy accuses the school of punishing whistleblowers.
Clancy’s legal representative castigated the school management on Friday, suggesting their “strategic approach” is a deliberate endeavour to overwhelm the accuser and escalate her legal costs. In Clancy’s testimony during the tribunal in February, she compared Quinn’s administration of the school to a “volatile situation” wherein students began to believe they were in control due to the headmistress’s handling of particular events.
These incidences purportedly included the assault of a faculty member and allegations that a student covertly filmed another teacher’s posterior. In Spring 2022, a collective protest was filed by teachers, expressing concern over health, safety, dwindling staff amenities and lack of student discipline.
Clancy claims her schedule for the term commencing September 2022 was altered as a punitive measure for signing the protest. This compelled her to teach during afternoons, disrupting childcare agreements she had established with Quinn’s predecessor before assuming her position in the school.
Cross-examining Clancy earlier in the year, the school’s barrister, Rosemary Mallon, announced that Quinn would personally attest at the tribunal that, despite finding the collective protest distressing, she “did not take it personally nor retaliated selectively as a response”. The cross-examination of three witnesses brought by Clancy’s legal team was postponed until April 25th this year, as the headmistress could not be present on the proposed date.
In the past, the headteacher had attended every hearing associated with this issue. It was suggested by the school’s lawyer during a cross-examination in February that many of the accusations made by Ms Clancy would be refuted by the headteacher in her testimony.
“The way in which the respondent managerial board has handled this lawsuit has been nothing less than shocking. Their strategies have been designed to exhaust the claimant and rack up extraordinary legal costs through continuous exchanges,” an assertion made by Conor Duff, Ms Clancy’s lawyer, during the hearing.
The tribunal is poised to hear evidence from the final witness related to this case the following Tuesday. After this, the closing arguments will be offered for consideration by the tribunal.