Teacher engaged in 'disgraceful and dishonourable' conduct over false declarations, inquiry finds

Seán McCárthaigh

A teacher is to face sanction after 25 separate allegations of professional misconduct against him were proven in relation to numerous false declarations he made in job applications to the Cork Education and Training Board.

A fitness-to-practise inquiry of the Teaching Council found the teacher, James Clancy, had engaged in “disgraceful and dishonourable” conduct which brought the profession into disrepute over false claims about his qualifications, teaching experience and registration status.

The false representations were made in 25 job applications, including 23 for teaching posts at post-primary schools, which Clancy submitted to Cork ETB between February and May 2023.

The teacher, who has no history of employment in the profession, did not attend the two-day inquiry which concluded on Tuesday and was not legally represented.

The chairperson of the inquiry panel, Adrian Guinan, noted that none of the allegations against Clancy had been denied, while he had acknowledged that he had not told the truth about his qualifications as a teacher in a number of emails to the Teaching Council in 2024.

Although Clancy had not been successful in obtaining any of the teaching roles, Guinan said it was essential that information provided by job applicants for teaching positions is “accurate and reliable” as it was “central to the need to protect the public, parents, students and colleagues.”

Guinan said the inquiry panel was also satisfied that Clancy had breached the Code of Professional Conduct for Teachers.

In an earlier closing submission, counsel for the Teaching Council, Neasa Bird, said the teacher’s pattern of false representations was “not isolated and not minor.”

Bird said it was “particularly serious” that the teacher had falsely claimed he had a master’s degree in education in 23 different job applications.

She said Clancy had clearly designed and intended that the false information would get him a job interview for a teaching post.

The inquiry previously heard that he had obtained a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Limerick in 2020, as well as a bachelor’s degree in maths and economics from University College Cork in 2006.

It also heard that Clancy had made admissions about telling a “mistruth” about the subject of his master’s degree but claimed there was inadequate work to make a living from journalism, while he could not afford the professional master of education (PME) course required to qualify as a post-primary teacher.

Bird said the mistruth admitted by the teacher was with a purpose which made it “a lie” that was “particularly egregious” because it was used to apply for a job as a teacher.

The barrister said Clancy had falsely made claims about his qualifications to teach specific subjects, including Irish, English, science and physical education in 16 job applications.

Bird reminded the inquiry panel that he had also claimed in 22 job applications that he was fully registered with the Teaching Council when his registration status was conditional until he obtained a PME.

At the time, he was also limited to roles in further education.

Bird said it was noteworthy that he had provided his accurate status to Cork ETB in a job application for a teaching role in Glanmire Community School in March 2023.

She said the provision of the correct status meant Clancy was aware his registration was conditional and other declarations were false.

She noted that he had still continued to claim that he was fully registered with the Teaching Council after he had been sent a reminder by the regulatory body in April 2023 that he only had a conditional status.

The inquiry heard that Clancy also made false representations to the Teaching Council about the specific subjects for which he was registered in 15 job applications and about being registered in the post-primary sector in 20 applications.

Bird highlighted how Clancy had tried to exploit an error made by the Teaching Council when he sought a copy of his teaching registration which incorrectly stated he could work in post-primary schools when he must have known he was not registered to do so.

She recalled evidence that he had made false declarations about his work experience when he claimed he had worked at a Cork language school for six months in 2022, when he had, in fact, only been employed there for less than two months.

Noting his false claims about having had a fixed-term contract of nine months from Cork ETB to teach maths and economics, Bird said Clancy had only ever worked one day for the Board as a tutor of English for foreign students in November 2022.

The inquiry arose after Cork ETB submitted a complaint to the Teaching Council in March 2024 after it became aware of numerous discrepancies in Clancy’s job applications when he had sought feedback on his “exceptionally low marks across a number of interviews.”

At the conclusion of the inquiry, Guinan said the panel would sit again on a future date to hear submissions about the sanction to be imposed on the teacher.