The board of management at Gaelscoil Thulach na nÓg, Dunboyne, Co Meath, which successfully secured the dismissal of Mr Tomás Ó Dúlaing, the school principal, this week, has complained that many aspects of the case "have been misrepresented in the media".
In a statement yesterday, it said that on March 15th, Mr Ó Dúlaing sent a letter to the parent body at the school "WITHOUT [their capitals] the consent or knowledge of the Board of Management, of which he was a member".
The tone and content of the letter "appeared as if he was seeking direct confrontation with the Board", the statement said.
In the opinion of the board, "he misrepresented the Board's position and he breached the collective responsibility of Board Members for Board Decisions [their capitals]", the statement said.
This, it felt, "seriously undermined" the board's authority "in the eyes of the parents and the teachers, as he had furnished the school community with inaccurate and misleading information. This led to a concern that the trust and confidence that we were entitled to have in the Principal had been called seriously into question."
The board members called a meeting with Mr Ó Dúlaing who, they said, "steadfastly refused to address our concerns or answer any of our questions". They were "forced to adjourn the meeting".
They felt they had "no alternative but to initiate disciplinary proceedings against him, given the legal obligations of the Board of Management with the direct governance of the school as set out in the Education Act and as per the rules of National Schools".
To their "disappointment, the Principal then embarked on a series of media interviews that in our opinion sought to undermine the authority of the Board of Management and further misrepresent the Board. Chaos ensued in the school community thereafter."
As disciplinary proceedings progressed, the board came "to the regrettable conclusion that the breakdown in trust and confidence between Mr Ó Dúlaing and the Board was irreparable and that his position as Principal was untenable".
"Conscious of the severity of the sanction proposed," the board ensured Mr Ó Dúlaing was afforded an opportunity to appeal its decision to An Foras Patrúnacta, the statement said, "before the Board's decision to dismiss him could take effect".
The statement continued that the board of management also found it "extremely unfortunate this has been misconstrued to be a dispute about religion". The Gaelscoil, as an interdenominational school, "gives equal respect to both Catholic and Protestant traditions".
The essence of the spirit which had inspired the school "was that children and parents from different religious backgrounds could be educated together, in an integrated way, celebrating all that they had religiously in common and in difference".
Concerns about the implementation of school policy on the part of "a small number of parents and teaching staff" were being addressed by an independent facilitation process "prior to to the actions of Mr Ó Dúlaing which have since led to his dismissal. It is sad that religion has been exploited in this dispute," the statement said.
It concluded: "It is with the deepest regret that we as a Board, representing, as we believe, all that is the best for pupils and parents alike, were forced by circumstances, entirely unforeseen and entirely outside of our control, to take this most drastic step of asking the Principal of our school to vacate his position.
"We all wish that this had never happened but duty must and the proper and ordered education of the pupils of this school must take priority over all else. That we intend to ensure."
