Irish High Court confirms Teaching Council of Ireland’s sanctions

An Irish teacher who was found to have forced five schoolgirls to tape their mouths shut for giggling and chatting in class has been removed from the national register of teachers in Ireland.

The Irish High Court confirmed a decision made by the Teaching Council of Ireland to have the offending teacher removed from the national register of teachers for one year. The Council indicated that the teacher could apply to be added back into the register after a year.

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Irish Justice Mary Faherty noted that while the sanction against the teacher was severe, it was reasonable and proportionate considering the circumstances.

In order to protect the schoolgirls’ identities, the school and the offending teacher have not been named. The students are said to be in their teens now and in the midst of their Leaving Certification cycle.

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The incident took place in March 2012, only two days into the teacher’s 12-week substitution contract. After hearing of the incident, the principal at the primary school confronted the substitute teacher who “sought to justify it and said they [the students] were chatting and messing and she didn’t mean anything by it.” The teacher was immediately relieved of her duties by the principal.

The teacher, however, later denied allegations that she taped the students mouths.

Irish Justice Mary Faherty said that after finding the allegations against the teacher to be fact, the Teaching Council found the teacher’s “actions to be wholly unacceptable” and slammed her behavior as “disgraceful and dishonourable.”