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'Resign at once or be dismissed', senator urges

Added on May 5, 2005

Thursday May 5th 2005


THE governing body of the Marino Institute of Education should be dismissed if it did not resign immediately, independent senator Joe O'Toole told the Seanad yesterday.

He claimed that there was a 'States of Fear' type of culture incorporating bullying, intimidation and abuse which continued in Marino.

When the former president, Caoimhe Mairtin, as accounting officer, raised pertinent questions her contract and position as the president were diluted and discarded, he claimed.

"Her authority in the area of personnel and finance were diverted from her and her position as president was reduced to something analogous to head of department. The college staff were outraged."

She had asked about a situation where a surplus from state monies averaging some ?5m a year was lodged in the same account from which four apartments costing about ?1m were bought, he said.

Another question involved the financial implications of finding that the official list of employed staff and the list of actual staff were different.

Senator O'Toole, a former INTO general secretary, said the fact that almost 15 different letters written by the staff regarding these matters had been ignored was shameful.

"Staff members who challenged the authorities in the college have found themselves to be at the receiving end of intimidation. Two, including the college president, were ordered to present themselves for psychological or psychiatric assessment.

"One member of staff, a brave Christian Brother who challenged what he felt was wrong, was exiled to Africa. Another, the IT manager, was told he had no further prospect of promotion.

"The most immediate fallout has been the loss of a fine college president, a woman with the highest of reputations in primary education."

? Irish Independent

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