School Which Pushed Out Staff Over Keffiyehs Seeks to Muzzle Press
Teachers who were made to resign from Harcourt Terrace Educate Together National School in 2025 over their donning of Palestinian keffiyehs now face attempts by the school’s lawyers to silence the story through a gag order preventing the media from naming the institution.
A teacher and special needs assistant (SNA) who were made to resign from Harcourt Terrace Educate Together National School in 2025 over their donning of Palestinian keffiyehs now face attempts by the school’s lawyers to silence the story through a gag order preventing the media from naming the institution.
Teacher Aaron Neville and SNA Sarah O’Mahony faced pressure from management to remove their keffiyehs after a campaign of harassment from a small group of parents, who shouted at the workers and took photographs of them without their consent.
One parent alleged that the workers’ pro-Palestinian accessories, which included a tattoo depicting the borders of pre-Nakba Palestine, promoted the eradication of Jews.
Harcourt Terrace justified its request for a media gag order by pointing to the bomb threats it received. In response, Mr Neville’s barrister Michael Kinsley pointed out that “every single school in the country” received the same threats.
The School, which is situated in an affluent area of Dublin by the Grand Canal, engages in this expensive legal process as a Dublin 12 school also run by the charity Educate Together – Riverview National School – faces severe space limitations.
The solicitor instructing Mr Neville’s barrister, Karl Gill of Ferrys Solicitors, is a notable pro-Palestine activist and co-leader of the recently launched International Centre of Justice for Palestinians Éire.
