Four Students Expelled Over Facebook Remarks About Teachers

Four students at a prestigious south Dublin school have been expelled after making abusive and "vile sexual allegations" about two teachers on the social networking site Facebook.

The four boys - including the son of Independent Wexford TD Mick Wallace - were all fifth-year students.

The Facebook page was set up in March, and was open for less than 24 hours.

It carried malicious comments about one male and one female teacher, including sexual allegations, as well as criticism of a third teacher's work.

The offensive comments were then "liked" by more than 40 students at the Oatlands College, in Stillorgan.

The page was created by one 17-year-old and administered by three others.

A teacher at the school, who saw the posts, alerted the principal.

The four students behind the Facebook page were suspended for 20 days, and the more than 40 youngsters who "liked" the page were given detention.

But after a special meeting of the school's board of management last week, a decision was taken to kick the four boys out of the school.

They will now have to find another school for their Leaving Cert year which begins in September.

The decision to expel the students has received a mixed response - some felt the school had over-reacted, while others said the school had little choice.

The parents of the students involved are likely to appeal the expulsions under Section 29 of the Education Act.

Oatlands College has over 500 pupils and is an all-boys school run by the Christian Brothers.

The Education Minister Ruairi Quinn would not comment on the individual case, but said he was aware of many other incidents in schools which involved teachers being bullied by students.

"I would say it is an unusual occurrence and obviously I can't comment on the details of this particular case," he said.

"The teacher unions and management bodies have indicated to me that in some cases this can be a two-way street and pressure on teachers can be enormous in some areas."