The fallout for Blackrock: The Brian Murphy case has generated some unwelcome publicity for Blackrock College, one of the State's oldest and most venerable schools.
For decades, the school has moulded Ireland's ruling class in business and the professions. "Rock" boys are also synonymous with outstanding prowess on the rugby field.
When news broke that Blackrock boys were implicated in the Murphy case, there was a feeding frenzy in the media. Within days, it was widely reported that a kind of tribal warfare between the Blackrock boys and other rugby schools had sparked a dispute that ultimately led to Brian Murphy's violent death.
During the court case, there was no reference to inter-school rivalry in rugby, although one observer said there was a sense that the "rugby thing was in the mix" on that fateful night outside Club Anabel.
Some in Blackrock College are said to be angry and resentful at the manner in which the media have trained a searchlight on the school. They point out how all four of the accused had long since left the school.
While this is true, it is also the case that the accused remained defined to some extent by their association with Blackrock College. This was particularly true in the case of Andrew Frame and Dermot Laide, one-time team-mates on the Blackrock senior cup team.
It was Laide - a Monaghan boy who had boarded at the school - who met the principal of Blackrock College, Mr Alan McGinty, on the morning after Brian Murphy was beaten to death outside the Burlington.
He was accompanied by his friend, Alan Dalton, another former Blackrock boy. There is no suggestion that Mr Dalton was in any way involved in the incident. Mr McGinty told the trial how he suggested that both Laide and Mr Dalton write down everything they could remember because it was a very serious incident. If it was on paper it would be fresh in their minds if needed later.
Mr McGinty said he didn't witness them writing out their accounts of what happened but he signed one of the accounts while ´Father Tom Nash, the vice-principal, signed the other. He wasn't sure which statement he signed. The principal told the court that Laide had a good record in the school, where he had boarded for all of his second-level education. He had, he said, always been a very pleasant young man who had played rugby for the senior cup team.
Under cross-examination, Mr McGinty said he did not know what had happened to the two accounts after they had been written.
He denied that he had asked for them to be written to protect the good image of the school.
His decision to become so directly involved in the case has prompted a great deal of comment in education circles and beyond.
One experienced school principal told The Irish Times: "It was well motivated but unwise. The only people who should have been taking statements about a very, very serious incident on that day were the gardaí."
Others are less critical. One senior education figure said: "The principal was acting in good faith and with a great deal of decency and compassion. It would have been much easier for him and for the school if he steered clear of it . . . but he was trying to do the best thing."
Neither Mr McGinty nor Blackrock College will make any comment on the case.
Mr McGinty broke a tradition stretching back 140 years when he became the first lay principal of Blackrock four years ago. Until then, the post had always been filled by a Holy Ghost Father.
A father of five, Mr McGinty (46) is a past pupil of Blackrock and has been a teacher there since 1979. He has always taken a keen interest in sport in the school, at one stage coaching the senior cup team. He currently trains a junior team.
There are suggestions in some quarters that what one might call the "Blackrock brand" has been damaged by the Murphy case. Certainly, the image of the school has not been enhanced by the tragic events outside the Burlington. Friends of the school will have grimaced as they read about the drunkenness, aggression and violence on the night.
But it seems unlikely that any of this will affect the feverish demand for places in the school every September. These days, it is very difficult to secure entry into Blackrock unless your son has a sibling in the school and/or a family history with the college.
The publication of school league tables which has confirmed Blackrock's status as one of the leading feeder schools for both Trinity and UCD has added further to the cachet of the school in some quarters.
Last year, a quarter of its Leaving Cert students secured more than 500 points. Another 40 per cent gained more than 450 points.
In a wider context, the Brian Murphy case and its perceived link with the rivalry among rugby-playing schools has already seen a response.
In January 2001, a Belvedere College initiative led to a meeting between rugby-playing schools, the then assistant Garda commissioner, Mr Jim McHugh, and the Licensed Vintners' Association.
At the time, Mr McHugh said: "We wanted to create a greater awareness among the schools, in terms of behaviour at matches."
In a letter to parents, Belvedere cited the "tragedies of last summer" before expressing concern about the worsening patterns of behaviour at school rugby matches.
At one stage, a Garda presence was required at some school matches.
During one match between rival factions from Presentation, Bray and St Paul's, a fusillade of objects was hurled across the platforms at Sandymount DART station.
Gardaí say the atmosphere at school matches has calmed appreciably since the Murphy case. The Garda Press Office said its officers regularly visit the rugby-playing schools and talk to pupils as part of its regular work with the community.
