A south Dublin school has given an undertaking to halt a disciplinary process it initiated against a teacher who claims she was wrongly identified as the so-called “GAA catfish”.
Mr Justice Brian Cregan last week granted Niamh Farrell a short-term injunction restraining Coláiste Éanna from continuing the process, which arises from allegations that she is responsible for “catfishing” various individuals in incidents that were the subject of podcasts by The 2 Johnnies.
Catfishing describes the practice of using false online identities to deceive other people, often in an attempt to lure them into a relationship.
Conor Power SC, for Ms Farrell, instructed by Daly Khurshid Solicitors, on Wednesday said in lieu of the interim injunction, Coláiste Éanna was willing to make an undertaking in the same terms of the injunction – including that the school does not take any further steps in the disciplinary process until further order of the court.
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Mr Power asked that the matter be put back for two weeks to allow for the school to file sworn statements in response to his client’s affidavit.
Barra Faughnan BL, instructed by Mason Hayes and Curran, for Coláiste Éanna’s board of management, said the school was making the undertaking. He said he would endeavour to file the replying documents within two weeks.
Mr Justice Cregan made the order replacing the injunction with the school’s undertaking and adjourned the case for two weeks.
Arising from her identification and allegations made against her, Ms Farrell, from The Spires, Portadown, Co Armagh, faces a disciplinary process initiated by Coláiste Éanna, an all-boys secondary school on Ballyroan Road, Rathfarnham, Dublin 16, where she has worked as a music teacher since 2019.
In a sworn statement to the court, Ms Farrell said she was concerned the school was relying on a “completely flawed and unlawful” disciplinary process in an effort to dismiss her because of “the public attention that focused on the school and pressure from some parents”.
Podcasts published by The 2 Johnnies in 2022 described the alleged activities of an individual who created fictitious social media profiles to communicate with others, often men, many of whom were involved in the GAA community.
The podcasters published a follow-up episode on the subject in January. The podcasts did not name the individual alleged to have carried out the catfishing activities.
Ms Farrell says she became aware of her false identification online as the alleged catfish by people unknown to her in 2022. Earlier this month, she said she was informed of an investigation report prepared by the school’s principal for a disciplinary process.
The report refers to the alleged activities of the “GAA catfish” and, Ms Farrell said, “seems to consider that I have admitted to being that person”. Ms Farrell said she has always denied she is the person including to the principal.
