The Workplace Relations Commission found the Irish Research Council did not engage in prohibited conduct after refusing Ciaran (Kieran) Walsh a postdoctoral fellowship. Adjudication officer Breiffni O'Neill dated the decision 24 March 2022.
Walsh alleged age discrimination in the fellowship decision and the handling of his appeal. He said an assessor’s comment about his long-term career prospects reflected bias, and that the Council’s appeal decision did not address his concern. The Council said it used two independent assessors who were not given applicants’ ages, and had a three-stage appeal process.
The WRC found Walsh had not identified a comparator or shown that someone of a different age received more favourable treatment in the appeal process. It dismissed the complaint.