A catholic nun intervened to block the leading candidate from securing the deputy principal position at a school, because the candidate had a baby outside of marriage.

It has also emerged that an interview panel at a second school run by the Catholic education trust Ceist allegedly downgraded the scores of the most eligible candidate because he was a Protestant.

As a result, the male teacher was pushed down the ranks from first place to third position and failed to get the job.

The extraordinary claims – both of which relate to incidents within the past six years – have been made by a whistleblower in an explosive protective disclosure which the Department of Education is investigating.

The nun, whose intervention led to the mother being denied the job, was the principal of the school where the woman worked as a teacher, and was a named referee on the woman’s job application.

The nun claimed the woman’s ‘lifestyle did not reflect the standards of the school and would send out the wrong message to the young female students’.

The woman was the only teacher at the school to apply for the job, and was a leading contender for the position after a second round of interviews, psychological type testing and after a third candidate was added to the list.

Ceist, the Catholic Education Irish Schools Trust, agreed at a Workplace Relations Commission hearing that the woman had been discriminated against and the whistleblower’s version of events at the school was not disputed at that hearing.

The leading contender for the position of deputy principal at a second Ceist school was allegedly blocked from being promoted after a nun sitting on the interview board claimed his appointment would ‘send out the wrong message’ because he was a Protestant.

The man’s interview scores were allegedly downgraded so that he fell from first to third place.

The whistleblower came forward after previously making official complaints to Education Minister Richard Bruton about Ceist, which is involved in running 110 schools nationwide.

In their submission the whistleblower outlines the sequence of events which led to the mother and a Protestant man both allegedly being disqualified from being appointed deputy principals at Ceist schools because it would ‘send out the wrong message’.

The whistleblower’s disclosure relates to the selection process for the position of deputy principal in two separate schools.

In the case of the woman teacher, the whistleblower, who sat on the selection committee, states: ‘After all shortlisted candidates had been interviewed, the selection committee discussed the relevant merits of each one.

Two candidates emerged as leading contenders for the appointment. One was an external candidate and the other was from the school staff.’ To the whistleblower’s surprise, and in contravention of the normal procedure, a second round of interviews was suggested as well as the psychometric testing of the candidates. Another candidate was also added to the list which the whistleblower says was ‘purely cosmetic’.

After the second round of interviews, the same two candidates emerged as leaders and the whistleblower favoured the appointment of the internal candidate. ‘At this point, I was asked to step outside the room by the chairperson and informed that [named nun who was the school principal] would not countenance the appointment of the internal candidate, given that she had had a baby out of wedlock some number of years earlier.

‘I cautioned the chairperson that we could not, under equality legislation, allow this to be a consideration in our deliberations. ‘The chair continued to assert that [same named nun] felt this candidate’s “lifestyle did not reflect the standards of the school and would send out the wrong message to the young female students”.

‘The internal candidate had nominated [same named nun] as a confidential referee.

‘When the reference was read, it was clear that [same named nun] had set out to denigrate the candidate and diminish her status as a candidate.’ The whistleblower says the reference was ‘completely at variance’ with what the selection committee had seen in two hour-long interviews with the candidate. The whistleblower said he informed Ceist and that they acknowledged at a WRC hearing that discrimination had taken place.

Meanwhile, describing their experience on another selection committee for a deputy principal in a Ceist school, the whistleblower states: ‘One very impressive and clearly appointable candidate emerged… When the scoring sheets were completed this candidate was ahead of the others who had presented for interview… ‘However, given that the candidate was a member of the Church of Ireland, his scores were revised downwards to place him in third place overall.

‘My expressed concerns were ignored. One of the board of management nominees to the selection committee, [named nun] informed the selection committee that her order, [named religious order], would not consider the appointment of a candidate who was not a Catholic as, “It would send out the wrong message about the school’s ethos.”

‘A blatant case of discrimination on grounds of religion.’ Both schools declined to comment.

The Department of Education said its officials were reviewing the claims.

It added: ‘The Department has received correspondence in relation to the matter. It is being considered in line with appropriate procedures.’