The former diocesan secretary of Kildare and Leighlin has told the High Court she will lose her home if her salary and pension rights are not maintained until the court determines her claim for alleged unlawful dismissal against Bishop Laurence Ryan.
Ms Mary Sheehy, of Fionntra, Green Road, Carlow, said she had been diocesan secretary to the Bishops of Kildare and Leighlin for the past 28 years and had now re-mortgaged her home to such an extent she required both her job and her salary.
Mr Roddy Horan, counsel for Ms Sheehy, said that on July 23rd last she had received a letter to the effect she was redundant and was to be paid eight weeks' salary in lieu of notice.
He was seeking injunctions directing the bishop to pay her salary and pension entitlements up to the date of the trial.
Mr Horan said it was clear from her affidavit that she had been given a solemn assurance when she took up the position that it was a permanent and pensionable post.
He told Mr Justice Michael Peart that Bishop Ryan's resignation had been accepted by the Pope.
The new incumbent, Bishop James Moriarty, was due to take up office on August 31st.
He said Bishop Ryan was Ms Sheehy's employer and on his retirement she had expected to continue as diocesan secretary under Bishop Moriarty.
Ms Sheehy said she had been appointed in 1974 by Bishop Lennon when it had been agreed that a non-contributory pension arrangement would be put in place for her.
Her pension rights and entitlements had been reviewed and altered over the years and her pension had not been properly funded for several years until July 2000 when Bishop Ryan had enrolled her in a new scheme.
She said that before working for the diocese she had previously worked in a pensionable post with the Carlow Vocational Education Committee.
When Bishop Lennon had appointed her he had given her an unequivocal assurance she would be the holder of a permanent and pensionable post until the age of 65, providing she faithfully discharged all duties assigned to her.
Ms Sheehy said that in December, 2001, she had been advised that Bishop Ryan was desirous that she would "retire with him".
He had wanted to "sort out matters before the new bishop was appointed". She was assured she would be "treated honourably".
"It appears to me that Bishop Ryan is seeking to achieve a situation which will deprive me of all the rights conferred by Bishop Lennon and I stress I would never have accepted his offer of employment if I had been advised I was dismissable for reasons of redundancy at the whim of my employer," she said.
She said she had been advised that the transfer of the ecclesiastical undertaking of the diocese to Bishop Moriarty constituted a transfer of an undertaking for the purposes of the European Acquired Rights Directive.
Ms Sheehy said her purported dismissal had not been embarked upon in good faith and it was clear her removal was simply a matter of administrative convenience.
Mgr Brendan Byrne PP, Tullow, and Vicar General of Kildare and Leighlin, said there was no diocesan record of the undertakings allegedly given to Ms Sheehy by the late Bishop Lennon.
He said an assertion by Ms Sheehy that she could not be validly removed from her post other than in circumstances of misconduct or incapacity was incorrect. He accepted she had performed her duties conscientiously.
Her employment was not being terminated by reason of any misconduct on her part but because of a decision of Bishop Ryan to streamline the administrative structure in Bishop's House by amalgamating the posts of diocesan secretary and chancellor/diocesan secretary.
Bishop Ryan said in an affidavit he was convalescing from major surgery.
He had been told by his medical advisers it would be inappropriate for him to engage fully in the defence of Ms Sheehy's claim and he had delegated responsibility to Mgr Byrne.
Ms Sheehy is claiming a declaration from the High Court that the purported termination of her position by Bishop Ryan is invalid and unlawful.
Yesterday she sought an order that Bishop Ryan pay her salary and fund and maintain her pension rights until the full trial of the action.
Judge Peart reserved his decision on the granting of the injunctions sought by Ms Sheehy.