former garda who faced disciplinary action for becoming pregnant outside of marriage in the mid-1980s
, has appointed a solicitor and is considering suing the State for damages arising from her treatment. Such a case would seek to recover her full pension, as well as lost earnings that she would reasonably have expected to earn through promotion had she stayed in the force and not been subject to disciplinary action arising from her pregnancy.regulations, with having premarital sex with another garda and with having given “birth to a child outside wedlock”. She went on to give her son up for adoption.
Ms Moynihan said on Monday senior officers told her in later years that her career was effectively ended by the incident. She later tried to take her own life five times.A potential barrier to her pursuing a claim for damages against the State or the Garda would be the two-year statute of limitations on such claims. However, such a time limit can be extended if it can be proved that someone was unable to come forward due to the psychological impact their case had on them.
“One woman was transferred following the birth of her baby to a location near her home, where arrangements were made to care for the baby while she continued working,” archives show. In another case, “a pregnant ban-gharda was instructed by her superior to marry the father of her child, but succeeded in resisting the instruction and retaining her post”.
And rightly so. She deserves pension and massive compensation too.