Court backs 'old boy' admissions policy at school [Independent.ie]
- Published: 26 July 2011
EDUCATION Minister Ruairi Quinn is on a collision course with school managers after a court yesterday upheld their right to enforce 'old boy' enrolment policies.
Mr Quinn has made it clear he will, if necessary, introduce legislation aimed at banning practices such as favouring the children of past pupils and teachers.
However, a ruling by the Circuit Court in Clonmel, Co Tipperary, yesterday threw this into doubt. It found that a school had not unfairly discriminated against a Traveller boy by using a 'parental rule' as part of its admissions policy.
Judge Thomas Teehan said the policy of the High School in Clonmel was justified, appropriate and necessary to fulfil the school's family ethos.
He set aside a ruling of the Equality Authority which found that the school had indirectly discriminated against local Traveller boy John Stokes because he was unlikely to have had a parent in secondary school.
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