A mother has lost her appeal in the High Court that the Christian Brothers High School in Clonmel discriminated against travellers
The mother of John Stokes, Mary Stokes claimed that her son was discriminated against when applying to the school because a brother or parent did not previously attend the school.
The family claimed that in previous generations it was uncommon for a male from the travelling community to make it to secondary school.
A lower court already ruled that the Christian Brothers High School in Clonmel is entitled to give priority to prospective pupils whose father or brother were past pupils.
However, today the High Court found that the past pupil policy of the school affects everybody who is not the son of a past pupil. Therefore it found that John was not at a unique disadvantage.
