The Co Meath Gaelscoil at the centre of a row over religious teaching two years ago has been ordered to compensate a woman who was dismissed as secretary to the school in 2002.
Ms Joyce Fitzsimons Markey was awarded €6,500 by the Labour Court, which found she was discriminated against on the family status ground by Gaelscoil Thulach na nÓg in Dunboyne.
Ms Fitzsimons Markey publicly supported the then principal of the school, Mr Tomás Ó Dúlaing, in his row with the board of management over religious teaching.
He was sacked in August 2002 after opposing a management directive that all such teaching take place within school hours.
He claimed this would lead to segregation as Protestant children would have to leave the classroom while Catholic pupils received instruction on matters of doctrine.
Ms Fitzsimons Markey, who was part-time secretary to the school before her dismissal in March 2002, had children attending the school.
In her capacity as a parent, she spoke to the media in support of Mr Ó Dúlaing's position and hosted parent-teacher meetings at her home for that purpose.
She claimed her stance provoked personal animosity from some parents, particularly those on the school's board of management.
She also claimed the "real motivation" for her dismissal was to penalise her for supporting the principal, and that this constituted discrimination against her on religious grounds.
The school, however, said Ms Fitzsimons Markey had been dismissed on foot of a decision that it was inappropriate to have as secretary to the school someone who was also a parent of a pupil there.
The board had taken the view that a conflict could arise between a person's duty as a parent and their duty to the school, the Labour Court was told. While the dismissal was directly related to the controversy over religious teaching, it was the conflict of interest rather than the particular controversy that caused it to reach its decision, it said.
