The Court of Appeal has dismissed John Francis Lawless’s appeals against the refusal of two interim orders: one requiring Westmeath Community Development to appoint him to an after-schools role while his case proceeds, and another restraining the Garda Commissioner from issuing further vetting information about him.
The judgment, delivered by Mr Justice Brian O’Moore on 28 June 2024, concerned interlocutory applications in ongoing High Court proceedings. It did not decide whether Lawless was entitled to the job or damages at trial.
Lawless says he was offered the position of Assistant to the After Schools Coordinator after an interview in 2022, subject to Garda vetting. He says interviewer Sinead Casey told him he would fail vetting only if his record suggested he posed a danger to women or children. Casey has since died. Westmeath Community Development’s evidence was that the offer was conditional on vetting, as stated in the job advertisement.
A vetting disclosure in January 2023 listed three convictions, including a purported 2012 conviction for handling stolen property. The judgment says that conviction was erroneous; Lawless had two other convictions. The Bureau withdrew the original disclosure in April 2023 and sent a corrected one. The judgment says the Gardaí have not explained how the error occurred. It also records that there was no evidence the error affected the hiring decision.
On the job motion, the appeal court held that Lawless had not shown a strong arguable case for interim appointment. The court noted the statutory requirement that an organisation receive a vetting disclosure before employing someone in relevant work, and said this was sufficient to uphold refusal of the motion. It also upheld the finding that damages could be an adequate remedy and noted that Lawless had not advanced the case towards an early trial.
The court rejected the restraint motion too. It found the proposed order was broad, could prevent the Commissioner from carrying out statutory vetting duties, and was unnecessary because Lawless could withhold consent to vetting. The court expressed no opinion on Lawless’s complaint that he was told too late about review rights for the original disclosure.
The appeals against the two motions were dismissed. The Court of Appeal’s provisional view was that Westmeath Community Development and the Garda Commissioner should receive their appeal costs, subject to any party notifying the court by 5pm on 5 July 2024 that it wished to argue for a different order.