Tuesday, 02 December 2025
09:15 - 15:45
(
6 hours 30 mins )
Online
Legal Island, in partnership with National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals (NAPD), brings together Ireland’s foremost experts in education and employment law to equip school leaders with the critical legal insights you need as 2025 draws to a close - and to help you prepare for the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead in 2026. From recent case law to evolving responsibilities, this timely update will ensure you're confident and well-prepared.
We understand that leading a school has never been more demanding. Rising expectations from parents, increasing pupil needs, staffing pressures, and constrained budgets have significantly reshaped the role of the Principal. Delivered online, this event is designed with your schedule in mind - helping you balance high-quality CPD with the everyday demands of school leadership.
This event offers a space to explore these challenges with peers and experts alike. Learn how to attract and retain staff, manage complex issues with confidence, and foster a school culture that is both inclusive and resilient.
Engage in practical, thought-provoking sessions, connect with fellow school leaders, and leave with the knowledge and tools to reduce risk, strengthen your leadership, and support your school community into 2026 and beyond.
Who should attend this event?
This practical seminar will be particularly valuable to school Principals, Vice Principals and other school leaders, including teaching unions.
Why should they attend this event?
In the rapidly evolving field of employment law, it's crucial to grasp how recent legislation and case law impact school policies. Our programme provides you with the opportunity to delve into complex issues alongside experts and peers, ensuring you're informed about the latest topics affecting schools.
Exclusive for NAPD members:
Book your place and avail of a special 2-for-1 offer by contacting vanessa@legal-island.com<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> after completing your booking.
Here's a more detailed look at the programme for Schools' Legal Update 2025
Familiarise yourself with the functions of our online event to ensure you maximise return on your investment. Julie Holmes, Legal Island, welcomes delegates to our 2025 event.
With Paul Crone, Director, National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals (NAPD)
NOTE: all the following sessions are being recorded and delegates will be sent links after the event for all recordings, which can be viewed until the end of the academic year and used for revision or staff training purposes.
Duncan Inverarity, Partner, A&L Goodbody is here to give his assessment of what’s important for you to know. He'll break down recent case law, providing an update on what's changed and how to tackle the latest developments:
• Maternity Protection, Employment Equality and Preservation of Certain Records Act 2024
• Employment (Contractual Retirement Ages) Bill 2025
• EU Pay Transparency Directive
• Lessons from WRC Annual Report 2024
• Karolina Leszczynska v Musgrave Operating Partners Ireland (ADJ-00044889)
• Mallon v Minister for Justice [2024] IESC 20
This session includes 15 minutes for Q&A
NOTE: This session will consist of what our speaker considers to be the most important developments in employment law relevant to school leaders in December 2025 and may differ from the above topics.
See you in 30 minutes!
In this dynamic session, discover how Generative AI software, like Adobe Express, and Large Language Models, like ChatGPT, can rapidly enhance the skills of your entire school community - from senior leadership to newly qualified teachers, and every pupil too.
Nicole O’Connor, Director of Digi Know, will explore practical ways to integrate Gen AI into daily operations and teaching, helping you to unlock new potential across your school before the end of this academic year.
Includes 10-minute Q&A.
See you in 10 minutes.
For principals and senior school leaders, managing staff discipline is one of the more complex - and often stressful - parts of the role. With recent WRC and court decisions refining the standards expected in disciplinary processes, it's more important than ever to get it right.
Elizabeth Kirwan BL will unpack the latest legal developments affecting how disciplinary matters should be handled in schools, with a focus on fair procedures, legal representation, and maintaining trust and integrity throughout the process. We’ll examine recent cases that highlight common pitfalls - including procedural shortcuts, inconsistent sanctions, and failures to follow internal policies - and how these can expose schools and boards of management to legal challenge.
You’ll leave with clarity to manage disciplinary matters with confidence.
Includes 15-minute Q&A.
See you in 1 hour.
Join us for an engaging and interactive session designed specifically for school leaders. Our expert, Dr Gerry McMahon from Productive Personnel, will use case studies to unpack some of the more complex (and often overlooked) responsibilities facing schools today. Together, we’ll explore:
Expect plenty of discussion and takeaways to bring back to your staffroom.
Includes 15-minute Q&A.
Distinguishing a protected disclosure from a personal grievance is crucial for school leaders, as mishandling can lead to legal risk and damage trust. This session unpacks whistleblowing in schools, focusing on the designated person’s role in conducting an initial assessment to determine whether there is prima facie evidence of wrongdoing - a vital step that is strictly not an investigation.
Antoinette Vahey, Partner at RDJ LLP will clarify key questions around timing, confidentiality, and when referrals to external bodies are necessary. Attendees will leave equipped to manage whistleblowing sensitively and lawfully, safeguarding both school integrity and individual rights.
Includes 10-minute Q&A.
Closing remarks from Paul Crone, NAPD. A chance for any last questions.
Paul Crone, Director of the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals (NAPD), and formerly Principal of Old Bawn Community School, Tallaght and currently Director of Schools in City of Dublin ETB.
Duncan Inverarity a partner and Head of A&L Goodbody's Employment Law group and has practiced exclusively in the area of employment law and industrial relations in multiple jurisdictions. Duncan advises public and private sector employers on both contentious and non-contentious matters. He advises Board rooms across Ireland and abroad on strategic and complex employment and industrial relations matters. Duncan also specialises in crisis management for clients and has advised on some of the most high profile corporate issues in Ireland. Duncan regularly appears for clients in the Workplace Relations Commission, the Circuit Court, the High Court, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. Duncan also acts for partnerships in mediated settlements and in proceedings in the High Court.
Gerry McMahon is an acknowledged national expert in People Management. He has over 35 years’ experience - as a workplace investigator (on bullying/harassment/ disciplinary/dismissal/grievance issues), trainer, negotiator, facilitator, mediator, arbitrator and team builder - across a wide range of employment sectors. He is the M.D. of the H.R. training and advisory company Productive Personnel Ltd.
Gerry has also had an extensive range of books and articles published and been a columnist with the Industrial Relations News, Irish Times, Sunday Business Post, and Irish Independent and expert commentator on H.R./Employee Relations for R.T.E. and TV3/Virgin. He has also served on numerous Legal Island and C.I.P.D. judging panels and is a Council member of the Irish Association for Industrial Relations.
Contact: Tel. 087-2471415; E-Mail: ppl1gerry@gmail.com
Nicole, CEO of Digi Know This, is a Digital Learning Specialist partnering with Adobe and Apple to empower educators in effective technology use. A former Education Manager at CCEA and school ICT Coordinator, she shares a wealth of experience with local and global education communities.
Passionate about giving teachers a voice in AI conversations, Nicole contributes to the Digital Enlightenment Forum, advocating for critical thinking in tech-driven classrooms. Her talent for making complex topics engaging helps schools confidently navigate the fast-paced digital landscape.
Antoinette is a Partner, practicing as part of the Employment law team. She brings practical and strategic legal advice to clients in a range of areas such as wrongful and unfair dismissal; discrimination; absenteeism and work related stress; performance management; temporary and contingent workers; collective redundancies; restrictive covenants and severance agreements.
Antoinette represents clients on employment claims in the Workplace Relations Commission, Labour Court and High Court together with gender discrimination claims in the Circuit Court.
Having qualified as a mediator with the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution in 2013 (specialising in employment and workplace disputes), Antoinette is focused on expanding RDJ’s independent mediation offering to provide the best solution to our clients.
Antoinette is particularly interested in the areas of transfer of undertakings (TUPE ), Vetting and social media in the workplace and has spoken extensively at various events on legislative and other changes in those areas.
She also devises in-house training sessions and policies for clients in respect of grievance and disciplinary matters, dignity at work and social media.
