Courts

Irish dancing judge says Facebook comments about another judge were not posted by him

Adrian Stewart claims his registration suspension from An Coimisiún Le Rincí Gaelacha is unlawful

Adrian Stewart claims the comments were posted by his then-girlfriend, who he says has admitted posting them on his phone while he was in the bathroom. Photograph: Liz Clayman/New York Times

Aodhan O'Faolain
Fri Nov 11 2022 - 16:13

An Irish dancing judge and teacher was suspended for three years and fined by the body that regulates the activity over comments on his Facebook page, allegedly posted by his then-girlfriend, about another judge, the High Court has heard.

The claim has been made by Glasgow-based Irish dancing teacher and judge Adrian Stewart, who says that he was suspended last year by An Coimisiun Le Rinci Gaelacha (CLRG) arising out of a complaint made against him in 2019.

He claims the comments appeared on his Facebook page about another Irish dancing judge at a World Irish Dancing Championship Qualifying tournament in Glasgow where he was also an adjudicator.

He said that concerns were raised by parents of dance students about the other judge who, it was alleged, was not paying proper attention to competitions.

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Mr Stewart said he defended the judge in question.

He claims that later that day he discovered posts on his Facebook page criticising the other judge’s behaviour.

He quickly deleted the posts which were online for two to three minutes and did not reflect his opinion, he says.

He claims the comments were posted by his then-girlfriend, who he says has admitted posting them on his phone while he was in the bathroom.

The other judge who was the subject of the comments made a formal complaint to the CLRG and Mr Stewart underwent an investigation and then a disciplinary process conducted by committees of the CLRG.

He said that his then-girlfriend furnished a sworn statement to the CLRG admitting that she wrote the posts on Mr Stewart’s Facebook page and that he had defended the other judge.

In July 2021, the CLRG’s Disciplinary Committee issued him with a written warning.

However, that finding was appealed by the CLRG’s investigatory committee to the CLRG’s appeals committee. It decided to suspend Mr Stewart’s registration with the CLRG for three years and fined him €1,000. CLRG accreditation is requried to teach Irish dancing or judge any events.

He claims the appeals process was flawed and should never have been permitted. He says the appeals committee’s findings should be quashed.

Information put before the committee was inaccurate, Mr Stewart claims.

Mr Stewart also alleges that some of the people on the committee who considered the complaint had made complaints about him in 2016.

In High Court proceedings against the CLRG, he claims the suspension is unlawful and seeks orders including an injunction quashing his suspension and the fine.

He claims the defendant has not allowed him to appeal the appeals committee’s decision and says his suspension and fine will damage his reputation and family business.

His suspension was announced earlier this year at a meeting of the CLRG and on one occasion he was asked to leave a feis he was not adjudicating at, he says.

Mr Stewart, represented by Michael O’Doherty BL, instructed by solicitor Niall Colgan, is also seeking various declarations from the court including an order directing the defendant organisation to announce at its next meeting that his suspension and fine have been lifted.

He also seeks a declaration that the investigatory committee acted outside of its powers by appealing the disciplinary committee’s decision that a written warning was merited.

He further seeks a declaration that the appeals committee that imposed the suspension broke its own procedures in the manner in how it conducted the appeal. He also wants the court to declare that his actions did not breach the CLRG’s Code of Conduct or Social Media Guidelines.

The matter was briefly mentioned before Ms Justice Siobhán Stack on Friday.

The judge, on an ex parte basis, said she was satisfied to grant Mr Stewart permission to serve short notice of the injunction proceedings on the CLRG.

The matter will return before the court later this month.

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