Skerries Golf Club defeats cleaner’s unfair dismissal claim despite concerns about official’s testimony

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

The Workplace Relations Commission rejected Donna Ash’s unfair dismissal complaint against Skerries Golf Club, finding her redundancy was not a sham because outsourcing the cleaning function produced a sizeable saving. The decision, published on Friday, followed a January hearing into her claim under the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977.

Adjudicator Conor Stokes found that club honorary secretary Donnacha Neary’s credibility was undermined to a degree after he initially tried to take a religious oath using his work diary instead of a Bible. Neary ultimately gave evidence under affirmation. Stokes said shortcomings in the redundancy process did not undermine the economic case for outsourcing, and rejected Ash’s complaint.