School boss who refused pregnant girl place was a tax dodger

Padraig O’Shea cited need for moral integrity when banning the pregnant girl

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Padraig O'Shea

Photo by Irish Independent

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The private school manager who questioned the morals of a pregnant teenager has been exposed as a tax cheat.

Padraig O’Shea hit the headlines when he refused to allow the 16-year-old attend St Joseph’s College in the Tipperary town of Borrisoleigh.

He was unrepentant when Ireland’s Children’s Ombudsman ruled that St Joseph’s discriminated against the girl who was refused a place because she was pregnant.

At the time he quoted the need for moral integrity.

'Parents appreciate discipline in a school. It is my duty to ensure that parents who repose confidence in me are duly rewarded, and my student body and my staff are people of the highest integrity and we shall retain our reputation in all respects. Simple as that,' O'Shea said.

The teenager applied for a place at St Joseph's while pregnant in 2009 and again after giving birth in 2010. She was refused on both occasions.

O’Shea left his position as principal in 2009 and stayed on as manager.

Now the Irish Independent has revealed that O’Shea was forced to make a million dollar plus settlement with the Irish taxman.

He has been named on a list of defaulters by the revenue commissioners and charged unpaid taxes, interest and fines.

The paper reports that the Revenue said that he had been found to have under-declared income tax in a revenue deposit interest reporting case.

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