A CHURCH of Ireland teacher who was offered a permanent post in a Roman Catholic primary school, but the offer was then withdrawn, was awarded the maximum compensa­tion of €12,697 by the Equality Tribunal in the Irish Republic.

Michelle McKeever applied for a job at Knocktemple School in Virginia, Co. Cavan, and in May 2007 was offered a permanent post. The offer was later withdrawn, the Tribunal heard, because she failed to produce a certificate of completion of a course on Roman Catholicism.

The tribunal found that her faith had been discussed by the school board, and had influ­enced the board in the with­drawal of her job offer, which was religious discrimination.