Marino Institute director rejects bullying claim

A board member at the Marino Institute of Education (MIE) has hit back at an allegation that he was involved in the alleged bullying…

A board member at the Marino Institute of Education (MIE) has hit back at an allegation that he was involved in the alleged bullying and harassment that led to the recent resignation of the president of Coláiste Mhuire teacher training college.

Ms Caoimhe Máirtín resigned last week after receiving a settlement from the north Dublin college having alleged a culture of harassment and bullying pervaded the primary teacher training institution.

Mr Dermod Dwyer a director of Treasury Holdings and member of the Marino Institute's board of governors, was publicly accused of authoring a memo to fellow board members which included the phrase "slowly, slowly catchy monkey".

The allegation was made under privilege in the Seanad yesterday by former Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO) president Senator Joe O'Toole.

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Obviously makes clear to me that there was a planned, structured and vicious programme of harassment and bullying and intimidation that forced Ms [Mairtin's] resignation
Senator Joe O'Toole former president of the Irish National Teachers' Organisation

"Obviously makes clear to me that there was a planned, structured and vicious programme of harassment and bullying and intimidation that forced Ms [Mairtin's] resignation," Senator O'Toole said.

Mr Dwyer responded in a statement this afternoon issued through a leading public relations company saying the senator's claim was a "grossly misleading interpretation attached to a leaked memo, which contrary to media speculation, did not relate in any way to the former head of Colaiste Mhuire".

The MIE announced today that an independent operational and financial audit into all allegations that have been circulating in recent days. It said it would implement any recommendations that arise "in full".

MIE director Helen Ó Murchú said the Board's primary concern was the welfare of staff and students.

She also backed Mr Dwyer saying he and other board members had been villified. "Mr Dwyer is an invaluable and committed member of the governing body since October 2001 where he gives of his time and expertise in a most generous manner and always with the utmost probity" Ms Ó Murchú said.

The board and all its members "have at all times behaved with integrity and probity", she added.

The Minister of State for Education Noel Ahern said yesterday that he had no information pointing to any impropriety at the college but a meeting has been set for next week between department officials and trustees of the MIE.

A storm of controversy surrounded the resignation of Ms Máirtín. In a letter she wrote to a Christian Brother who worked at the school she said she had been "humiliated, punished, isolated and excluded".

She was well-respected among staff and has received praise within education circles for her transformation of the college from one which trained a small number of students five years to a facility from which 150 students now graduate annually.

The primary teachers' union, the INTO, meanwhile has dismissed the audit which is to be carried out by leading accountant Greg Sparks of Farrell, Grant, Sparks.