An application for patronage of a new school by a body promoting secular education should not have been rejected by the Department of Education as invalid, the Court of Appeal has ruled.
Secular Schools Ireland's submission to run a new primary school in Co Cork had been excluded from the adjudication process because of a "serious administrative error" by the department, the court found.
The court said the case raised a "significant issue of public administration" and it was "of real importance" to SSI that its position be vindicated.
Two years ago the Department of Education advertised for expressions of interest to run a new school in Carrigtwohill.
SSI was among four organisations to apply. Its application contained the names and details of 98 parents who wanted a secular school.
However, in June SSI was told that its application was invalid because it had only confirmed a willingness to meet one of seven requirements that had been set out in application guidelines.
In judicial review proceedings SSI argued it did not understand it was obliged to make an explicit statement concerning these requirements.
It said the fact that it was applying should have been understood as tacit acceptance of all conditions.
SSI's argument was dismissed by the High Court but it has now won its case at the Court of Appeal.
Giving the three-judge court's decision, Mr Justice Sean Ryan said the department's understanding of its own guidelines was "erroneous".
He said it was not stated anywhere in the guidelines that commitments referred to must be expressed in the application.
The information provided also did not make clear to applicants that failure to specify acceptance of the conditions in their application would be "fatal", he said.
Mr Justice Ryan said this was the first such application from SSI and the department had wrongly excluded it from consideration.
The judge said the court was not required to decide wider issues concerning the State's obligations or parental rights in relation to secular education.
SSI only discovered that its application was not evaluated on its merits on the website of the Department of Education.
Mr Justice Ryan said that was not calculated to inspire confidence in the process or the decision.
The school in question is now up and running, as a Community National School under the patronage of the successful applicant, Cork Education and Training Board.
This evening an SSI spokesperson welcomed today's court decision.
Lefrey de Burgh said there was a huge unmet need for secular education in Carrigtwohill and elsewhere.
She said SSI would like the Department of Education to work with the group in order to meet that demand.
