Eileen Flynn

Eileen Roche (née Flynn; In 1985, the High Court ruled this did not constitute unfair dismissal. Divorce was illegal in Ireland at the time. The school principal warned her that parents had complained of the scandal and that she would be sacked if she continued; In November 1981 Flynn moved into Roche's house and in April 1982 announced her pregnancy to the new principal, Sister Mary Anna Power, who offered to arrange for her to give birth in London and put the child up for adoption. The same month the school manager said that she would be dismissed unless she changed her "lifestyle". On 6 August, the manager said that because of her "open rejection of the norms and behaviour and the ideals which [the] school exists to promote" she must resign or be dismissed. She refused to resign and was dismissed on 22 August with effect from 20 November.

Court cases On 29 August 1982, Flynn told the principal she had contacted a solicitor and would contest the dismissal. In March 1983, she took her case to the Employment Appeal Tribunal, alleging unfair dismissal under the Unfair Dismissals Act, 1977, which prohibits pregnancy discrimination. In February 1984, the tribunal rejected her appeal. Flynn could not afford an appeal to the Supreme Court. She was represented in court by solicitor Simon Kennedy.

Commentary The case was the subject of much media comment and public controversy in the period. Colm Tóibín described the reports on the Gay Byrne Show as reminiscent of a Thomas Hardy novel. The fact that Richie Roche was a Sinn Féin activist meant that RTÉ would not interview him for fear of breaching Section 31 of the Broadcasting Act. (Flynn herself was not in Sinn Féin. however, Flynn herself, as well as political and legal commentators, have contended that the law would permit similar dismissal; in particular that section 37(1) of the Employment Equality Act 1998 allowed schools to sanction teachers for "undermining the religious ethos of the institution". This provision was weakened in 2015 for schools in receipt of public funding (which applies to virtually all religiously run schools).

Subsequent life Flynn later give birth to a second child as well as raising Roche's three previous children. legalising divorce in Ireland was brought into force following the 1995 referendum. Eileen Roche resumed teaching about 2005, in the Christian Brothers primary school. She died suddenly on 9 September 2008 and her funeral was held on 12 September 2008.