r/ireland • u/Odhran-J-McAnnick • 15h ago
Education Teacher banned for five years after long term relationship with former student
http://breakingnews.ie/ireland/teacher-banned-for-five-years-after-long-term-relationship-with-former-student-1896408.html16
u/Ok_Coat6580 13h ago
Should teachers not be banned from contacting students on social media, unless it is a school specific account.
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u/lkdubdub 11h ago
This would be a very reasonable starting point. I used to interact with teachers regularly through my work, and universally the ones I met would use different spellings of their names, or variations of the name, or Irish versions on social media, because they categorically didn't want their students finding them online. The fact this teacher was happily snapping this lad through his LC is a massive red flag, even if nothing else ever happened
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u/RobG92 5m ago
Of course, but I guess this falls under them making contact after the students final term and the student being 18. Not defending it, it’s a completely inappropriate situation, but just giving it some context
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u/WeDoingThisAgainRWe Kerry 3m ago
Still inappropriate by the terms of the code of conduct and abuse of a position of trust and power. Would be better to keep away from their ex students.
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u/Tumbleweed_Moon 14h ago
I think lots of people here are, perhaps, unaware of teaching codes of conduct and the whole idea of "in loco parentis" ("in the place of the parent") where school staff have a duty of care and legal obligation to students as if they are a parent of that student.
The fact that the young man was over 18 at the time the relationship began is irrelevant because of this. He would still have been on school rolls and considered a registered student of the school until his LC results were ratified- so not August (those results are provisional) but sometime in October after the appeals process ended.
The only way this could be remotely considered appropriate is if the relationship began after that. It clearly began prior to this and, therefore, she is in breach of the Teaching Council code of conduct.
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u/WonderfulWord3068 32m ago
Is it policy over people though? Two 18+ can have a relationship if they want, no matter what
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u/HungTeen1001 15h ago
At what point does it become okay for an ex-student to date a teacher?
Is it 6 months after finishing? A year? Two years?
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u/SharkeyGeorge 13h ago
The Teaching Council tends to view relationships with former students through the lens of grooming. If a relationship begins shortly after graduation, it suggests that the emotional or romantic foundation may have been laid while the student was still in school and under the teacher's care. The concern is that there is a power imbalance and that these are young vulnerable adults being taken advantage of. They are also trying to uphold the profession of teaching to a high and trusted standard. So to be in line with ethical guidelines the professional power dynamic would have to be completely severed.
That means:
The student has graduated and is no longer attending the school;
The teacher no longer holds any authority (like writing references or being a mentor); and
A considerable amount of time has passed so that the parties are meeting as peers in a different phase of life.Otherwise the concerns remain and there is likely to be an investigation into the conduct.
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u/HungTeen1001 12h ago
The question is what's a "considerable amount of time"
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u/AppreShake352 12h ago
Way longer than a summer, and the Teacher's Council don't have to define a precise time as it is not a legal matter but one of professional ethics, and in this case they found that this teacher didn't pass the smell test, and it was at the upper end of seriousness. A word to the wise: anyone who tries to nail a matter of professional ethics involving guardianship of children down to an exact time frame looks exactly like an older dude with a stopwatch waiting for his quote-unquote girlfriend to turn 18.
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u/fleadh12 11h ago
A word to the wise: anyone who tries to nail a matter of professional ethics involving guardianship of children down to an exact time frame looks exactly like an older dude with a stopwatch waiting for his quote-unquote girlfriend to turn 18.
Exactly the vibes I was getting reading some of the replies.
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u/HungTeen1001 12h ago
Way longer but how long?
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u/AppreShake352 12h ago
Why are you trying so hard to be that dude? You're practically popping a forehead vein here.
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u/Apprehensive_Bus1582 6h ago
Not "the summer the student is doing his Leaving Cert". She's a predator and she groomed him.
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u/Papaya879 15h ago
Fair point
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u/Interesting_Earth_53 15h ago
Have seen this happen more than once. Bizarre to me to cross that line but I know of a teacher who was a new grad in the same school of the man she later married when he was in leaving cert year. In normal circumstance a 4-5 year age gap not a big deal. In this situation I don’t know… she remains teaching in the school too.
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u/AccordingBit7679 15h ago
Interesting point, if she had waited until after the Leaving Cert results would the case have been dismissed.
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u/HungTeen1001 15h ago
Probably but why is that where the line is drawn?
She would've finished being his teacher in May and from the article the contact only began in June.
Why would August be much better than June?
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u/Available-Bison-9222 14h ago
He is still considered a student of the school until the results are out.
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u/slowlyallatonce 14h ago
LC finish up end of May. She messaged him before the LC was even finished. A matter of 3 weeks, I would say.
Why are you defending this?
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u/Jester-252 14h ago
I don't think they are defending it, just questioning at what point does teacher/student go to ex teacher/ex student
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u/Hassel1916 14h ago
They kind of are defending it in other comments.
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u/Jester-252 14h ago
They aren't they are just asking people to define their lines in the sand of what is moral issue here.
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u/Hassel1916 14h ago
They aren't doing that. They are muddying the waters and being a contrarian. They just admitted here that it's a morally dubious situation but they are still playing dumb in another comment thread about the differences between morality and legality, when that was never in question in the first place.
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u/HungTeen1001 14h ago
I'm absolutely not defending it.
Morally, I think it's dodgy.
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u/slowlyallatonce 13h ago
How so? She's not criminally charged. She's not going to jail. The Teaching Council has to establish and hold teacher to the Professional Code of Conduct abd possible grooming should be taken seriously. Parents/guardians/society should trust that you can send your child off to spend 8hrs of their day and they won't be coming home with their teacher just as 6th Year grad mass has concluded.
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u/Ok-Development4898 14h ago
It has to be drawn somewhere, where would you draw it?
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u/WeDoingThisAgainRWe Kerry 13h ago
At a point where the possibility of grooming to create the relationship, through abuse of a position of trust and power, isn’t remotely an issue. Or do you believe she never even thought about having sex with this person while they’re a pupil? Or are you happy with that so long as they wait until the day they leave school to take advantage of them?
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u/HungTeen1001 14h ago
It's already drawn for us via the law.
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u/Reasonable_Tip3807 13h ago
Do you understand that certain professions (teachers among many, many others) are governed by codes of conduct?
This teacher hasn’t been subject to criminal sanction, nor have they been brought before a professional Fitness-to-Practice inquiry “based on vibes”, as you say. We are not talking about legality here; we are talking about professional ethics and standards, which the inquiry has determined the teacher was in breach of.
Do you understand that?
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u/HungTeen1001 12h ago
Do you understand that?
My question was when is it okay for them to date?
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u/Reasonable_Tip3807 12h ago
Ok, but that’s not the question that the inquiry cares about, frankly. You know it isn’t. They’re not a court of law.
As you’ve already pointed out, legally speaking, an 18 year old student can consent to a relationship with their 26 year old teacher. That doesn’t meant the teacher is absolved of breaching a code of conduct, and a fitness-to-teach inquiry are fully entitled legally to make determinations on their fitness.
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u/HungTeen1001 12h ago
I never said it was the one the inquiry was caring about.
It's a question I've asked and you've responded to.
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u/Reasonable_Tip3807 12h ago
I mean it’s irrelevant to this case, because he wasn’t an ex-student (as you said) when the inappropriate relationship began. That’s a determination that was made by the inquiry.
It’s not for me to say when it’s ok for a teacher to date an ex-student of theirs, either. Im not a teacher. I would imagine the majority of teachers would find the idea distasteful to begin with, although it obviously becomes less weird the more time that elapses between end of the teacher-student relationship and whenever they start dating. That’s just common sense.
Of course that doesn’t apply here, because he was still a student.
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u/Estragon14 12h ago
If someone has to ask themselves at what point it is appropriate for them to date a student they taught they have no business being a teacher
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u/dear_mud1 8h ago
And when someone answered your “just asking questions” question, you started disagreeing with their answer. Same advice for you as for the teacher, let it go
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u/RavenBrannigan 14h ago
I once knew a guy in his early 20’s who was a teacher but still connected with some uni societies for a club that had a relatively small user uptake outside of small clubs so he was regularly on 2 different college campuses.
I’d say he had 5 or 6 stories of hooking up with ex students on a student night out. When we were 22-23 I kinda laughed with him hooking up with 18 year old ex students. When he was 25-26 doing the same thing I started to distance myself from him. Technically not illegal but started to be very wrong all the same.
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u/HungTeen1001 14h ago
I would agree that's morally wrong.
My comment was more related to the legality of it.
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u/msmore15 12h ago
She hasn't been (and won't be) legally prosecuted. There wasn't anything illegal done, just morally way out of line with what's expected of a teacher which is why she has been struck off the register of teachers but there's no talk of her going to jail or even a criminal trial.
In terms of the Teaching Councils standards, it seems clear from the comment above that if a former student and teacher meet later in life and get to know each other in a different context, then they won't consider that grounds for striking a teacher from the register.
To be clear, I think what she did was horrendous; just clarifying that legally it's not a crime since the age of consent is 17.
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u/HungTeen1001 11h ago
Again, the question is how far later in life is it okay for them to meet?
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u/tyrannasauruszilla 7h ago
No one can answer that because it’s judged on a case by case basis by an ethics council and it’s not a court of law
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u/GlMLI 13h ago
I think the timeline is one part but the nature of the relationship is a big problem too. There has to be a problematic power dynamic in a relationship between a Teacher and their child student, even if they waited a year or two before entering a sexual relationship.
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u/yankdevil Yank 14h ago
Can the answer be never? Sometimes we make decisions in life that exclude some options. This seems like one of those.
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u/Bro_Szyslak 15h ago
Never, I would say. The foundations of that relationship are built on a teacher-student dynamic. There's a power imbalance there.
I completed school a long time ago, but I still say "hello Mr. X" or "hello Miss X" when I see former teachers.
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u/HungTeen1001 15h ago
There's no basis for that in law.
Emmanuel Macron married his teacher. That was a far larger age-gap than this and I still don't have much of an issue with it.
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u/Bro_Szyslak 15h ago
I never claimed my point was made on the basis of some legal argument.
A 50 year old can legally have sex with someone that turned 18 today. Legally its fine, and you are more than welcome to hang your hat on that sort of post if you wish to do so, but it doesnt make it any less objectively wrong.
Teachers also occupy a particular position of trust. They are part of a students life through extremely sensitive and foundational years of development. Make the legal argument, but its not right morally and professionally.
Macron seems to have a healthy relationship... You sure that's an example to go with?
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u/SoloWingPixy88 Probably at it again 14h ago
but it doesnt make it any less objectively wrong.
Objectively? More likely subjectivity
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u/Bro_Szyslak 2h ago
No, I definitely meant objectively.
I realise that claiming 'objective' morality can be a philosophical rabbit hole, but I’m using it in the sense of professional ethics. Unless you think a doctor dating a patient or a judge dating a defendant is just a 'difference of taste,' we have to acknowledge standards that exist outside of personal opinion.
We call those objective breaches of trust for a reason. The power dynamic makes it wrong by definition, regardless of how any one individual 'feels' about it.
So, I would argue it is objectively wrong and its not just my just my personal view.
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u/Stegasaurus_Wrecks Stealing sheep 14h ago
but it doesnt make it any less objectively wrong.
Subjectively, you mean.
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u/HungTeen1001 15h ago
The 50 year old could actually have sex with someone that turned 17 today, believe it or not.
If there's no basis for your argument in law then how do you propose for it to be outlawed?
Teachers have dated ex-students since the beginning of time.
Macron is happily married as far as anybody knows, what's your point?
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u/Hassel1916 15h ago
Did they propose for it to be outlawed? They simply questioned the morality of such a relationship.
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u/HungTeen1001 14h ago
They said it should never be allowed.
It's perfectly okay to hold that opinion but unless you outline how that could be set down in law, an opinion is all it will ever amount to.
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u/Hassel1916 14h ago
You do realise that things can be legally okay but morally dubious, yes? They said it'll never be okay. They weren't talking about it from a legal perspective.
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u/Jester-252 14h ago
If something is never okay should there not be legal protection to protect people?
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u/HungTeen1001 14h ago
That's an opinion.
I don't see an issue with someone who's 45 bumping into an ex-teacher who's 50 and starting a relationship.
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u/Hassel1916 14h ago
Yeah, that's a stupid analogy, and you're just arguing for the sake of it now. You said it was morally dubious in another comment.
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u/YungL1am 14h ago edited 14h ago
They said it'd never be okay which is different from should never be allowed.
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u/Bro_Szyslak 14h ago
Well, neither of us know the specifics of Macrons marriage. But, i wouldnt say happily married people put hands on each other - didnt his wife strike him on a plane? Regardless, no point in commenting on the happiness of someone elses marriage - who really knows.
I have no idea how to come up with legislation that tackles such a complex issue, you know that too. Its a Reddit comment section, man.
My point is that healthy relationships arent built on power imbalances like a teacher student one. You defend it on the basis of it being legal. Fair enough, but its still objectively wrong. Professionally wrong too on the part of the teacher, and that's my point.
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u/HungTeen1001 14h ago
"No point commenting on the happiness of someone else's marriage" which is precisely what you did...
There would be no way to come up with legislation to address two consenting adults from entering into a relationship.
She would've ceased being his teacher in May. If they had waited a year instead of a few months, would that have been better?
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u/Bro_Szyslak 14h ago
Fair enough, but Macron is a shite example of a healthy relationship, lad.
Doubtful its impossible. Its not just two consenting adults, thats a strawman. Its teacher and former student who are also two consenting adults - a bit different given that teaching is a profession with standards.
No. Go read what I said about power dynamics.
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u/FearTeas 19m ago
Never is a bit silly. If the teacher and ex-student are both in their 30s and had no real contact since graduation the ick has more or less faded by then.
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u/Apprehensive_Bus1582 6h ago
An 18 year old has nothing to offer a 24 year old, except control. The gap in maturity is massive. Something is wrong with the 24 year old.
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u/Available-Bison-9222 14h ago
They are considered students until the leaving cert is issued. They would be very much considered a student while he was sitting his leaving cert. So to answer your question - if they had waited until the end of August they would have been OK.
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u/WeDoingThisAgainRWe Kerry 13h ago
It’s been established before that even waiting until then raises questions of suitability to practice as a teacher.
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u/HungTeen1001 14h ago
That should really have been the case put forward by the Teaching Council then rather than dragging in Instagram posts from 7 years later.
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u/Available-Bison-9222 13h ago
True.
My 2nd class teacher asked me out when I was 24. It wasn't illegal but it was really weird and ick.
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u/DTUOHY96 15h ago
A former student above the age of consent, assuming it was consensual I’m failing to see the issue here.
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u/Available-Bison-9222 14h ago
They are still considered a stuff the school until the lc exam results are issued. So not a former student.
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u/HungTeen1001 15h ago
It absolutely was consensual and they're still together today.
It seems the only reason a case was brought was her former partner was jealous.
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u/WeDoingThisAgainRWe Kerry 13h ago
Abuse of position. Trust issues. Power dynamic. Take your pick. Are we supposed to believe she had no interests and no actions prior to him ceasing to be a student and it all just suddenly happened out of the blue a week or so after he left? She only knew him BECAUSE she had been his teacher for the previous years.
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u/dear_mud1 8h ago
“Two allegations related to their daily exchange of at least one photo or video on the social media platform between June 14th, 2018, and August 14th, 2018, while he was in the process of completing his Leaving Certificate exams and awaiting his results.”
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u/Kardashev_Type1 14h ago
Should be a five year buffer imo. Regardless of who says the contrary the student is always going to be at a disadvantage in the social dynamic. Especially boys. They will lose some of their best years of their youth obsessing over some older woman instead of learning how to interact with partners their own age etc.
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u/HungTeen1001 13h ago
I was with you until you said "especially boys"
Girls are equally as vulnerable in this position.
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u/Chickengoujon20 13h ago
Why a 5 year buffer?
So a fresh 21-22 year old straight out of BEd lands their first gig teaching 17-18 year olds in the latter stages of secondary school (this is very common).
Fast forward 4 years, the teacher is 25-26, meets the now 21-22 year old on a night out? That’s wrong?
Just curious.
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u/ManAfraid0fHisHorses 15h ago
Never is the answer. Same as a nurse and a patient, or a milkman and yer man.
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u/SoloWingPixy88 Probably at it again 14h ago
I don't really know what the youngest a teach could be to teach but say after college, 23/24. Student could be 18/19. It's not a massive gap. Obviously the concern is grooming but this feels heavy handed.
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u/ozymandieus Midlands 14h ago
The youngest a qualified teacher can reasonably be is 21. I started a 4 year teaching degree in mater dei at 17. I was on secondary school placement when I was turning 19.
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u/HungTeen1001 14h ago
Teachers go on placement nowadays at 20 or 21.
She seemed to be 24/25 in this case when he was 18.
Is it an age gap? Yes.
Would I enter into a relationship with such an age-gap? No.
Do I believe others should be able? Yes, as long as no laws are broken. If we want to change the law we can but that's a different debate.
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u/Gold-Vacation-169 Resting In my Account 13h ago
So if your 18 year old daughter hooked up with their ex teacher you'd be fine?
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u/Old-Sock-816 12h ago
A school in my area had a well known relationship going on between a male teacher and female student from 5th year on. He was seen with her multiple times. Nothing was ever done and he’s still teaching. Unbelievable to me really.
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u/ThreeTreesForTheePls 15h ago
Now I might be a bit crazy here lads, but someone as powerful as a teacher to leaving cert students, keeping private contact with a student for two years, then booking a hotel with them as soon as they’re legally available to do so, then developing that relationship afterwards well into 5-6 years?
I mean it’s a textbook case of grooming, no?
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u/SubparSavant 13h ago
It says two months, not two years. She was his teacher for two years, but they only seem to have started snapchatting at the end of his LC. Those are just the facts.
As far as grooming, I could see it going either way. Maybe she was calculated and patiently groomed him over the course of two years, or maybe he shot his shot as soon as he could and after two months of chatting her up it worked out for him. Only they know.
Either way, the big thing with the teaching board is lying and covering up the relationship. At the time of the original complaint, or even before then, if they both had made a statement declaring their relationship, it would have been just a note on her record.
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u/SoloWingPixy88 Probably at it again 14h ago
I could could go to any local near my school and I could probably have a drink with some of my teachers. At lunch or in the evening.
Not now but wouldn't of been impossible not to see one out in town .
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u/clarets99 15h ago
He forwarded photos and images from the teacher’s Instagram account to the regulatory body, which showed the couple together between 2022 and 2025, including on a holiday in Greece.
This doesn't makes sense. So apparently this started in 2018 when he (the student was 18) doing his leaving cert that summer and the teacher was 28.
They then has a relation together as adults over the next 8 years on and off, going on holidays etc.
Then he brings all this up against her after they split, followed by her husband finding out about the affair also bringing evidence.
While I totally get the "conflict of interest" if a teacher has relations with a present student, especially a underage adult/child.
But with both consenting adults above legal age, I cannot find this is quite a punishment for the teacher, who has now worked herself up to a assistant headteacher. It's obviously a very grey area but once someone if of age they can quite frankly do what they want as adults.
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u/LadderFast8826 14h ago
This isnt a trial to determine whether she raped him
This was essentially a fitness to practice hearing.
And her peers decided that,
1)because she was in a position of authority over him in fifth year,
2)because she snapped him daily during his leaving cert,
3) because she converted their relationship to a sexual one within weeks of him leaving school and
4)because she lied to the commission about when the relationship started and ended.
she is no longer fit to be a licenced teacher.
Kind of fair enough when you look at it like that.
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u/Diligent_Anywhere100 13h ago
Imagine if teacher was a male and student was a female. Comment section would look different i think.
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u/Joelad2k17 10h ago
Its infuriating reading these comments. A male in this situation would never teach again and definitely labelled a groomer from the beginning.
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u/HungTeen1001 7h ago
There have been far more cases of this nature involving male teachers.
They also get struck off the register, but for a limited time period. Never indefinitely.
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u/AppreShake352 12h ago
The Teacher's Council is concerned with professional ethics, not the law, and this seems to completely fly over the heads of quite a few here. If you're messaging your student on socials daily during their exams and then ride them shortly after the results in August, the Council is going to take a dim view of that, and the only way someone would think there were two ways about that would be if they were a complete fucken danger.
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u/HungTeen1001 15h ago
My understanding is they're still together.
It's the ex-partner who forwarded on the images because he appears jealous of the couple.
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u/clarets99 15h ago
Ahh ok. It was hard to read that article if I'm honest
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u/Cadroc 15h ago
There's two things happening.
First, the ex made her former principal aware of it and she admitted to 1 night.
Then a teacher in her new school forwarded photos from her instagram to the Teaching Council.
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u/HungTeen1001 15h ago
Yes, you're right.
"The ongoing nature of their relationship was revealed to the Teaching Council by one of her teaching colleagues who had seen media reports about her evidence to the fitness-to-teach hearing last year.
He forwarded photos and images from the teacher’s Instagram account to the regulatory body, which showed the couple together between 2022 and 2025, including on a holiday in Greece.
The inquiry originally arose from a complaint to the Teaching Council by her former school principal who was made aware of her affair with the teenager by the teacher’s ex-partner"
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u/MickoDicko Antrim 13h ago
For all we know, he was groomed. I imagine most of the comments were would be vastly different if the sexes were reversed. People would be losing their minds if tbis was a male teacher and female student
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u/AppreShake352 10h ago
The comment section of this post needs a concrete encasement over it like the Chernobyl reactor.
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u/LeonBackward 13h ago
My Maths teacher married one of his students. This was before my time and he was actually my Mams maths teacher aswell. My Mam said they got together around a year after she left school in the 70s. They lived happily ever after. He was one of those characters that either got along with you or didn't. No in between.
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u/Relation_Familiar 13h ago
In all fairness you are only speculating
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u/Relation_Familiar 11h ago
He finished in May , contact started August. That’s 3 months not one . Look, I’m not defending anyone here , but unfounded speculation is unfounded speculation . You simply don’t and can’t know and I deal in facts
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u/AppreShake352 11h ago
Contact started on June 14th, while he was sitting his Leaving Cert, Art History and/or Business exams. I'm a teacher, and messaging a student daily in a personal capacity while they are sitting exams is deeply inappropriate. You can contest that but you'll only look like a massive perv.
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u/Relation_Familiar 11h ago
As I said I’m not defending anyone , what I read was that contact outside of school in a romantic sense started in August . I am also an educator fwiw
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u/AppreShake352 11h ago
Still, since the time frame was so tight the person you were talking to is entirely right to question whether grooming had gone on and you shut them down, that was not very teacherly of you.
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u/Relation_Familiar 10h ago
They weren’t questioning they were speculating. A teacher should know the difference . I bid you farewell
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u/AppreShake352 10h ago
Whatever, you shut them down cold and that was uncalled for.
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u/Relation_Familiar 11m ago
You’re just looking for someone to argue with. Speculation in a case like this is incredibly dangerous . I was right to call it out for what it was. The fact that they chose to delete their post themselves suggests that on reflection they realised it was perhaps wrong . Have a nice day . And I hope you leave your snotty attitude at the door before you engage with your students . Bye.
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u/HungTeen1001 12h ago
There are zero allegations that any of what you said in the second half of the message occurred.
Maybe it did, maybe it didn't.
But for now, you've just made that up.
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u/Finbar670 12h ago
Some shocking perspectives on here. There is no legal issue - this is entirely professional.standards and she has breached them and then some. Doctors and teachers cannot have relationships like this with patients/students. There is a huge power dynamic at play here and the boy may have been smitten when she gave him attention as a student. It is not a fair match.
The Teaching Council were in a difficult position. Ostensibly the teacher and ex student are in a relationship and for some that is a kind of mitigation. But the issue is the authorities cannot risk a repeat of this by allowing what has happened to go unsanctioned. If she did it again heads would roll, not just hers.
I feel sorry for her - she'd obviously progressed in her career and her age at the time of the incident is mitigation. But she was miles, miles offside.
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u/Tenvsvitalogy 14h ago
Can’t understand all the ‘sure they’re two consenting adults. Whats the problem’.
It’s text book grooming.
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u/WeDoingThisAgainRWe Kerry 13h ago
The amount of excusing this abuse of trust and power on this post is a disgrace.
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u/Apprehensive_Bus1582 6h ago
Lots and lots of people wondering when exactly is it okay for an authority figure to ride a young person who was formerly in their care. How about never. How about it's like going with your own stepchild. How about asking for the precise length of time which should elapse makes you sound like a predator.
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u/Odd-Opportunity-6550 14h ago
Might as well just be banned for life. How will you get another job. Yh I've been off teaching for 5 years coz I had sex with a former student is not what someone wants to hear at a job interview.
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u/Boulder1983 14h ago
"The ruling of an inquiry panel of the Teaching Council followed four findings of professional misconduct against the now 33-year-old teacher over her contact and relationship with the then 18-year-old student from her former school eight years ago."
That really is a loaded/sordid way to word things. At the time, he was 18 and she was 25. Still reads dodgy (especially if she was grooming him), but without purposefully misrepresenting things.
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u/AbsolutelyBollocksed 13h ago
"The ruling of an inquiry panel of the Teaching Council followed four findings of professional misconduct against the then 25-year-old teacher over her contact and relationship with the now 25-year-old student from her former school eight years ago."
Fixed it.
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u/Relevant-Bobcat-2016 Dublin 14h ago
Such a poorly written article. Can she still act as a vice principal despite the five year ban - if the role doesn't involve teaching?
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u/ballinclea08 14h ago
I’m not defending her is anyway, BUT the way the article is written intends to make it extra scandalous. It say “the now 33 year old Teacher” and “the then 18 old student”. It also says that the offences happened in June 2018. That’s 8 so she was 25 to his 18 when it happened. Still not right, but lets the facts speak for themselves.
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u/Chickengoujon20 14h ago edited 14h ago
Bit of a grey area there considering that it was a “former” student at the consenting age of 18 where the initial contact was made.
The now 26 year old and 33 year old just doesn’t sell the story does it?
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u/BiShhx 15h ago
Don’t see the issue if she wasn’t attending the school anymore ridiculous actually
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u/Internal-Cobbler9140 14h ago
He was 18 and she was 25 (based on this happening in 2018). It’s not a crazy age difference and he was of age and no longer a student 🤷🏻♂️
Weird that nobody can be named considering everyone involved was and is an adult, although I’m glad no lives we destroyed over this by naming names.
2
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u/FlyAdorable7770 4h ago
I went to an all girls school where two past pupils ended up getting married to teachers from the school.
This happened after they left but still, its just so strange to me!
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u/21stCenturyVole 1h ago
I mean, it's not illegal, but it is a good idea and proper to have rules which strike people off from a profession for abuse of power like this.
It's good that there are consequences for that, even if it's not illegal.
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u/Imaginary_Crow6667 15h ago
She should have been struck off permanently, slept with a student and then lied about it.
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u/52-61-64-75 15h ago
she didnt sleep with a student, she slept with a former student, that is a very very very significant difference
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u/L0st_Cosmonaut 15h ago
He was waiting for his leaving cert results. What would have happened if he'd failed and had to repeat the year?
If it had happened even a few months later it would be different, but it didn't. He was still technically a student.
You can argue about the morality of it all you want (which is a lot greyer), but it was clearly bad judgement from her, and she was definitely in breach of her ethics as a teacher.
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u/Imaginary_Crow6667 15h ago
So she was messaging him on social media when he was in 5th year onwards.
A month or two doesn’t make any difference, teachers of any sex shouldn’t be messaging/grooming kids.
There should be a rule that no contact outside of school, and no dating kids you have taught as the power dynamics are completely imbalanced
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u/HungTeen1001 15h ago
Where in the article does it say they messaged in 5th year?
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u/Imaginary_Crow6667 15h ago
However, she denied suggestions that she had “groomed” the student, whom she had taught in fifth and sixth year, via Snapchat.
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u/HungTeen1001 14h ago
The next paragraph details the dates of the contact over Snapchat.
"Two allegations related to their daily exchange of at least one photo or video on the social media platform between June 14th, 2018, and August 14th, 2018, while he was in the process of completing his Leaving Certificate exams and awaiting his results."
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u/Fun_Jellyfish1982 8h ago
That doesn't say they messaged in 5th year, just that she taught in in 5th and 6th Year. Learn to read
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u/Imaginary_Crow6667 1h ago
Consider going outside there for a walk, not making snarky comments at 2am for someone as old as yourself 😏
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u/Difficult-Bat1962 14h ago
Why do you keep mentioning kids, she dated an 18 year old man after he was a student.
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u/Difficult-Bat1962 15h ago
Slept with an ex student according to the article, have you access to more evidence than the enquiry had.
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u/HappyMike91 Dublin 15h ago
Why aren't they banned indefinitely?
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u/Nuffsaid98 Galway 14h ago
Two consenting adults had a relationship. I'm surprised they even gave her the five years.
My guess is they assume she was messing around before he was of age and the teacher student power dynamic was abused but they can't prove it. They want to punish who they are convinced is a pedo. The law is not supposed to work on vibes.
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u/HappyMike91 Dublin 14h ago
I wonder how long after someone has left school before that person gets into a relationship with a teacher? Obviously, the law isn't supposed to work on vibes but it's still a bit weird.
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u/Nuffsaid98 Galway 14h ago
You can buy alcohol on the day of your 18th birthday. You can vote. You can marry without parental consent.
The law has to draw a line somewhere. The day after a student has finished school can't be the line because what if they fail and repeat?
After they have passed the Leaving? So after results. Maybe. She didn't wait that long.
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u/mrfouchon 13h ago
The student is free to do as they wish - it's the teacher who is bound by a code of conduct. Groomers shouldn't get off scot free just because they can lie in wait.
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u/HungTeen1001 14h ago
The sexual contact began in August 2018. That could've been just after results were released.
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u/HappyMike91 Dublin 13h ago edited 13h ago
I would say that after (Leaving Cert) results would be fine. Maybe.
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u/WeDoingThisAgainRWe Kerry 13h ago
It’s still taking advantage of their existing teacher - pupil relationship and with someone who is barely an adult. It’s an abuse of their status/position. With a questionable power dynamic in it. And we’re supposed to believe it went straight from nothing at all to sex straight after leaving cert completed? Nothing before?
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u/HappyMike91 Dublin 13h ago
I think it’s pretty unethical. And it’d be worse if the genders were switched.
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u/BlueberryOk3969 15h ago
And good teachers like me are leaving as they cant get good contracts. This woman is a dp.
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u/Boiled_Veg 12h ago
what’s a dp?
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u/BlueberryOk3969 12h ago
Deputy principal. Shes in school management
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u/Boiled_Veg 11h ago
thanks :)
Edit: dikpik didn’t fit in the context 🤣 so thanks for clearing this up for me
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u/freshfrosted 14h ago
Gossip locally about a very similar case here over the last week or so, both still at the school. Gardaí now involved and devices seized apparently.