President Mary McAleese's protocol officer has "been stripped" of most of her functions and fears she will be removed from her post, her lawyer told the High Court yesterday.
Mr Justice Kevin Feeney has begun hearing a claim by Bridget Conway aimed at halting a disciplinary investigation against her. A higher executive officer in the Civil Service, of Clane Road, Celbridge, Co Kildare, she claims that resentment by senior personnel in the office of the President's secretary general has led to bogus disciplinary proceedings being contrived against her with a view to removing her from her post. The claims are denied.
Roddy Horan SC, for Ms Conway, told the court yesterday: "She has effectively been emasculated, if I can use the term." There was also the apprehension that she could be removed and her functions reduced even further, he said.
In an affidavit, Ms Conway said there was no basis for the disciplinary process and it was embarked upon because of "the personal animus" of Loughlin Quinn, former personnel officer in the office of the secretary to the President and now deputy secretary general, and Brian McCarthy, secretary general in that office.
At all material times she enjoyed an especially close working relationship with the President. This relationship was resented in particular by Mr Quinn and Mr McCarthy and was the "driving force" behind the insistence on conducting a third investigation into the "completely baseless allegations into certain work practices at Áras an Uachtaráin", she said.
Ms Conway claims her relationship with Mr Quinn was initially good but began to deteriorate after President McAleese embraced her on her return from the funerals of some of the victims of the Omagh bombing in August 1998. The embrace was to thank Ms Conway for her support for the President at what was a difficult time for her, both personally and professionally.
The embrace was witnessed by Mr McCarthy who challenged Ms Conway and asked her to explain what he termed "all this hugging stuff", Ms Conway said.
The following week, Ms Conway claimed Mr McCarthy succeeded in excluding her from a visit with the President to Daisy Hill Hospital in Belfast, "despite the fact that the President had specifically requested that she be accompanied on this trip", she said.
In 2001, Ms Conway claimed Mr Quinn was "hostile" when she inquired about a possible promotion and she says a colleague advised her that she was intensely disliked by Mr McCarthy and another member of staff.
She claims a baseless allegation of bullying was made against her in early 2004 by a female colleague at the Áras of which she was exonerated in July 2005.
Shortly after the bullying allegation was made, she claims she was informed in a letter from Mr Quinn that a number of matters had been brought to the attention of senior management which would have to be investigated under the Civil Service disciplinary code. She rejected all those allegations as contrived and believed the entire process flouted the Civil Service disciplinary code.
The allegations included that in January 2004, she instructed a member of staff in the office to misinform management as to his whereabouts and told another member of staff to advise management the employee was "at the dentist".
It was also alleged that in November 2003, she had instructed a member of staff on how to falsify certain electronic records in relation to an invitation to the President. It was also alleged Ms Conway had deleted or caused the deletion of certain records relevant to a request made of the President by the Ardoyne Youth Providers Forum.
Mr Horan said the disciplinary process against Ms Conway was bogus and contrived and she had been "relentlessly pursued since 2004".
The proceedings, which continue today, have been brought against the Taoiseach, Ireland, the Attorney General and Brian Spain, personnel officer in the Department of Defence.