A secondary school teacher who sent hundreds of inappropriate messages to three teenage male students is to be removed from the register of teachers.
The High Court heard many of the messages sent to the 14-year-old boys were sent late at night, at weekends and on school holidays.
The messages came to light when a parent of one of the boys saw one after her son had been using her computer and contacted the school.
Neither the teacher nor the school can be identified by order of the court.
President of the High Court Mr Justice David Barniville made the order removing the teacher from the register after the Teaching Council found him guilty of professional misconduct and imposed the most serious sanction which must be approved by the High Court.
The court was told the "hundreds and hundreds" of messages ran to 700 pages and were initially about sport but then "strayed far beyond that as time progressed".
The Teaching Council's barrister Eoghan O’Sullivan BL said the teacher had sent messages on the schools Microsoft Teams platform between September 2022 and May 2023. They were found to be "inappropriate in terms of their content, frequency and timing", he said.
A panel overseeing a fitness to teach inquiry of the Teaching Council last year found the teacher guilty of three counts of professional misconduct and was satisfied it was "disgraceful and dishonourable conduct".
It also found that while messages on the surface related to sport, some were suggestive and capable of being construed by a minor in a sexual matter.
The teacher had claimed that the messages were "banter" or "locker room talk" but he acknowledged he should not have done it.
The court was told the Teaching Council panel was unimpressed by the reference to "locker room talk" and there was systemic and continuous communication which was clearly inappropriate.
Mr Justice Barniville also ordered that the teacher not be eligible to reapply to be put back on the register for another three years.
