The Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin, Dr Laurence Ryan, has been ordered by the High Court to continue paying the salary and pension contributions of his former diocesan secretary until her claim for alleged unlawful dismissal is determined by the court.
Mr Justice Peart said yesterday that for the court to decide otherwise would prove nothing short of a personal disaster for Ms Mary Sheehy, who had told him the loss of her job would mean the loss of her home.
Ms Sheehy is seeking a declaration that the purported termination of her position is invalid and unlawful, and Mr Justice Peart told Mr Tom Mallon, counsel for Bishop Ryan, that it could be months before the case comes to trial.
After holding that there was a fair issue to be tried in the action, Mr Justice Peart said Ms Sheehy had set out in some detail the extent to which she was entirely reliant on her salary. She had sworn that in fairly recent times, and based on certain increases to her salary, she had increased her mortgage so that she could carry out improvements to her home.
"She says that if she loses her present position she will find it impossible at her stage of life to gain suitable alternative employment at the same level of salary."
She had set out a list of her monthly outgoings, none of which seemed exaggerated, which included a monthly outlay of €898 in respect of her mortgage repayment, the judge said.
Mr Justice Peart said that the balance of justice lay clearly in favour of granting the reliefs sought by Ms Sheehy. He ordered Bishop Ryan to pay all of Ms Sheehy's salary, as accruing from next month to the trial of the action, and to continue to fund and maintain her pension and life assurance contributions.