A secondary school teacher who says she has been falsely identified as the so-called "GAA catfish" in a number of podcasts by The 2 Johnnies, has been granted a temporary injunction stopping her school from continuing a disciplinary process against her which could lead to her dismissal.
Niamh Farrell, from The Spires, Portadown, Co Armagh, said the allegations that she was deceiving people online by pretending to be someone else and luring men in the GAA community into relationships are completely false, unfounded and untrue and are a matter of great distress to her.
Senior Counsel Conor Power told the High Court that Ms Farrell was shocked to receive an investigation report from her principal at Coláiste Éanna in Rathfarnham in Dublin earlier this month, setting out allegations against her.
Ms Farrell said the report by principal Seán Ó Murchú failed to comply "with even the most basic requirements of fair procedures and natural justice" and appeared to contain findings of fact which, she said, was "totally unfair".
She said it was completely unclear what allegations of misconduct were preferred against her.
Ms Farrell is the head of music at the school and also teaches Irish. She said she had an unblemished disciplinary record and had never been the subject of any complaint about her work.
Ms Farrell said the principal had stated that when a third episode of the podcast was broadcast by The 2 Johnnies earlier this year, she had confirmed to him that she was the person to whom the podcast related.
However Ms Farrell said she told the principal she was aware allegations were being made online about her by people she did not know and at no time did she accept she had engaged in the activities outlined in the podcast.
She said she had always denied that she was the person behind the "GAA catfish".
In a sworn statement she said she became aware in 2022 that there had been some speculation online by unknown individuals that she was the person responsible for "catfishing" activities outlined in two episodes of The 2 Johnnies podcast.
She said the "catfish" created fictitious social media profiles and then befriended and communicated with people, often men, who were involved in GAA. The podcasts did not name the person responsible.
However, Ms Farrell said allegations were made online naming her. She said she did not engage in such activities and the allegations were a source of significant distress to her, affecting her physical and mental health and general well-being.
In May 2022, she said the principal told her concerns had been raised by parents at the school that she had been named online. She said she told him the allegations were completely false and that she had engaged solicitors who had written to The 2 Johnnies calling on them to remove the episodes from their platforms.
'Very upset'
She said she was off work for two weeks and did not attend the sixth year graduation ceremony as the principal was concerned about media attention. She said she was "very upset" at being identified as the person involved.
Ms Farrell said An Garda Síochána and the PSNI were in touch with her purely to check on her welfare in circumstances where she had been publicly named. But she said she had never been accused of any criminal wrongdoing of any kind by any agency.
She said when she became aware in January this year that The 2 Johnnies had broadcast a third episode on the topic and she alerted the principal. She said she had been notified in advance because of the effect that previous episodes had on her.
Ms Farrell said she was shocked to receive the principal’s report to the board of management on 3 March.
She said she had not been told that the principal was considering beginning a disciplinary process and she had never before been the subject of any such investigation.
She said it was completely unclear what exact allegations of misconduct were being preferred against her.
There was no evidence to support any assertion that she was involved in catfishing activities, she said.
She said a statement in the report that she had been identified online as the person who was allegedly the GAA catfish, appeared to refer to false allegations made by people unknown to her.
Ms Farrell said the investigation report contained assertions about the impact of allegations made against her on students and staff. But she said the unfounded allegations had also caused great distress to her and she was not responsible for the the actions of other people.
She said the allegations were hearsay and were not a basis for any disciplinary action against her. Ms Farrell said her students had received the highest mock exam results in the school and had won awards in music competitions outside school.
The court was told Ms Farrell had been called to a meeting next Tuesday and the school would be entitled to dismiss her from her employment arising from that meeting. She said this would have catastrophic consequences for her career and reputation.
She said she was gravely concerned the Board of Management was relying on the completely flawed and unlawful process conducted by the school because of the public attention focused on it and because of pressure from some parents arising from unfounded and untrue allegations over which she had no control.
Mr Justice Brian Cregan granted a temporary injunction to Ms Farrell stopping the disclipinary process.
The matter will be back before the court in a week’s time, when the school will have an opportunity to address the matters.
