Atheist’s claim of religious discrimination dismissed by Labour Court

20th August 2021

A  teacher at Clonmel Technical Institute who tried to remove a statue of the Virgin Mary from the main entrance to the school has had a claim that he was discriminated against on the grounds of religion by the presence of the statue dismissed by the Labour Court.
The Clonmel Technical Institute argued that CTI is a multi-denominational school and has a Christian ethos and the placement of a May altar annually at the school is carried out in the preservation of that ethos.

Computer science teacher and atheist Fachtna Roe said he views the statue as a symbol associated with oppression, cruelty and the humiliation of women and children, and its placement in the school caused him “offence and upset”.

In May 2015, he attempted to remove the statue as he viewed it as victimisation of him, but was opposed by the school’s caretaker and a scuffle ensued.

Mr Roe argued that the placement of the Virgin Mary statue in 2015 was done to make him feel inferior as a humanist in his place of work, and that the statue represents Roman Catholic dogma, which humanists oppose.

Mr Roe also argued at the Labour Court that there is no place in a vocational school for ‘religious dogma’.

The court found that Mr Roe has not established any facts from which an inference of discrimination could be drawn in the case.