School ends 'GAA catfish' disciplinary process

A Dublin school has stopped a disciplinary process against a teacher who denies she is a so-called "GAA catfish".

Last month, Niamh Farrell, of The Spires, Portadown in County Armagh, was granted a temporary injunction against the board of management of Coláiste Éanna CBS in Rathfarnham.

The injunction prevented the board from going ahead with disciplinary proceedings against her.

The secondary school teacher believed the process could have resulted in her dismissal.

The High Court in Dublin was told during a hearing on Wednesday that the school has agreed to end the disciplinary process and the matter has been "fully resolved".

The judge asked Ms Farrell's lawyer if his client had been "wrongly identified". The lawyer said the matter had been resolved with the school and he did not wish to add anything further. The court proceedings have now ended.

In an affidavit to the High Court in Dublin in March, Ms Farrell denied she is the so-called "GAA Catfish" whose alleged behaviour was documented on a number of topical episodes of a popular Irish podcast.

The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) is Ireland's biggest sporting organisation.

In her affidavit Ms Farrell said the allegations that she was deceiving people online by pretending to be someone else and attempting to lure men in the GAA community into relationships are completely false.

The affidavit also explained that she has been falsely identified as the so-called "GAA catfish" following a number of 'The 2 Johnnies' podcasts.

Her legal team told the High Court that Ms Farrell was shocked to receive an investigation report from her principal at Coláiste Éanna in March.

The teacher's lawyer said allegations of misconduct were completely unclear and the report by principal Seán Ó Murchú failed to comply "with even the most basic requirements of fair procedures and natural justice".

Ms Farrell is the head of music at the secondary school and also teaches Irish.

The court heard last month that she had an unblemished disciplinary record and had never been the subject of any complaint about her work.

A judge was also told in March that the school principal had stated that when a third episode of the podcast was broadcast earlier this year, the teacher had confirmed to him that she was the person referred to in the podcast.

She said she had always denied being the person behind the "GAA catfish".

The podcasts did not name the so-called 'GAA catfish'.

The teacher said the allegations affected her physical and mental health and general well-being.

She said the principal told her, in May 2022, that concerns had been raised by parents at the school.

The teacher said she told the principal the allegations were completely false.

She also stated that she had engaged solicitors who had written to The 2 Johnnies calling on them to remove the episodes from their platforms.

Ms Farrell said police in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland were in touch with her to check on her welfare in circumstances where she had been publicly named.

But, she said, she had never been accused of any criminal wrongdoing of any kind.

Ms Farrell said she was shocked to receive the principal's report to the board of management on 3 March.

She said she had not been told that the principal was considering beginning a disciplinary process.

There was no evidence to support any assertion that she was involved in catfishing activities, she said.

The teacher said a statement in the report that she had been identified online as the person who was allegedly the GAA catfish, appeared to refer to false allegations made by people unknown to her.

The court was told last month that Ms Farrell had been called to a meeting and the school would be entitled to dismiss her from her employment arising from that meeting.

She said this would have catastrophic consequences for her career and reputation.

She said she was gravely concerned the Board of Management was relying on the completely flawed and unlawful process conducted by the school because of the public attention focused on it and because of pressure from some parents arising from unfounded and untrue allegations over which she had no control.

Following the submissions by lawyers on behalf of Ms Farrell last month, a temporary injunction was granted in the High Court.

It stopped Coláiste Éanna from proceeding with the disciplinary process until the school had an opportunity to present its case to the court.

The case before the High Court was solely in connection with Coláiste Éanna's disciplinary process against Niamh Farrell.

The court proceedings have now ended.