Two senior academics who were among six candidates for the post of Professor of Sociology/Head of Department at NUI Maynooth, have complained to the Equality Authority that they were discriminated against on religious grounds.
Dr Ronnie Munck, Professor of Political Sociology at the Univesity of Liverpool and Dr Desmond Bell, Professor of Media Studies at Napier University in Scotland, have also written to the Governing Authority at NUI Maynooth protesting at procedures used in the selection process.
Speaking last night, Prof Munck said that he and Prof Bell had encountered "a fear of alien work practices and of a different ethos - the Protestant way" during the selection process at the university last month. Both academics are from Northern Ireland. Prof Munck continued that their sense of grievance had been underlined when "a lesser qualified candidate, and a Catholic" was appointed to the post.
The successful candidate, Dr Seán Ó Riain, is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of California, in Davis, California. Attempts by The Irish Times over recent weeks to contact Dr Ó Riain, by email and phone messages, have been unsuccessful.
In his letter to the Governing Authority at Maynooth, which met on June 10th, Prof Munck spoke of "various anomalies in the selection and interview process" for the post and said the outcome was "to the dismay of the sociology profession." He said "as far as I am concerned, the only way NUIM can retain any credibility after this debacle is to re-advertise for a Professor of Sociology/Head of Department."
Dr Seamus Smyth, president at NUI Maynooth, said yesterday that complaints by both senior academics of discrimination on religious grounds would be regarded as "an absolute joke ... people will fall around laughing".
The professors concerned were "two disappointed candidates", he said. The selection board had been unanimous in recommending three candidates and in naming Dr Ó Riain as preferred choice.