Special needs school principal, with credible allegations of abuse against him, previously advised teachers how to report issues to Tusla - while being investigated by the agency. But there's one thing his bosses still won't tell us

Published: 23:18, 9 May 2026 | Updated: 23:18, 9 May 2026 A school principal accused of forcing a ‘vulnerable’ boy to stand outside in his underwear as ‘punishment’ lectured teachers on child protection while under investigation by the State child and family agency, the Irish Mail on Sunday can reveal. While working for the Catholic Primary Schools Management Association (CPSMA), John Condon advised teachers on reporting issues with Tusla – while the agency was investigating serious abuse and bullying claims made against him by a former student. Last week, the MoS revealed the Tusla investigation concluded a series of abuse allegations made by former student Páidí Manning against the now-principal of Belmayne Community Special School were ‘founded’.  Tusla said this means ‘on the balance of probabilities that child abuse did occur’. Mr Condon was accused of abusing Mr Manning when working as a teacher and housemaster at Good Counsel School in New Ross, Co. Wexford, between 2001 and 2003. The former student told how he was ‘filled with rage’ as a result of the abuse and was ‘shocked’ to discover his alleged abuser had gone on to become principal of a school for vulnerable children two years after Tusla upheld his allegations. During a meeting this week with concerned parents of children who attend Belmayne Community Special School, the governing body confirmed ‘a full internal investigation’ into the MoS’s revelations. It has also emerged Mr Condon delivered a joint webinar to members of the CPSMA while under investigation by Tusla. In the webinar, he lectured fellow teachers on compliance with reporting and child safeguarding obligations. During his presentation, Mr Condon gave advice on how child oversight reports should be compiled for Tusla when dealing with allegations of abuse, and provided examples of how reporting procedures should be followed. The CPSMA this weekend confirmed it was not made aware of the Tusla finding against its former employee.  In a statement, it said: ‘CPSMA only became aware of these allegations from recent media reports. No issues arose either during the recruitment process or his tenure with CPSMA.’ It has also emerged Mr Condon delivered a joint webinar to members of the CPSMA while under investigation by Tusla, the State child and family agency Last week, the MoS revealed the Tusla investigation concluded a series of abuse allegations made by former student Páidí Manning against the now-principal of Belmayne Community Special School were ‘founded’ The latest development in the case comes as other former students who attended Good Counsel School came forward this week with more allegations. Parents of vulnerable children in Belmayne Community Special School and St Peter’s Special School, where Mr Condon previously worked as well, have also expressed concerns for the welfare of their children. A man who was a student of Mr Condon’s in the early 2000s said he told Tusla in 2021 of his former teacher’s ‘totally unacceptable’ behaviour but was assured he was no longer working with children. The student told the MoS: ‘They asked me if I wanted to make a formal complaint and I asked, “Is he still in contact with kids?”. I was told, “In his current role, no. He is still in education, but he has no interaction with students.” ‘I didn’t take it any further after that because he wasn’t involved with children, but then I read last week [in the MoS] he was back teaching children again. ‘There is no way on this planet this man should be teaching children, let alone vulnerable children.’ The former student, now 37, said that he had been ‘roughed up’ by Mr Condon several times. ‘I was among a handful of children that he targeted. I had an eyebrow piercing as a young teenager and I had forgotten to take it out. ‘As he was walking past me, he stuck out his hand and pulled it out of my eyebrow as he was passing. ‘I got a little nick [in my skin] and it came straight out as the ball wasn’t on the end of it, but I was shocked by it.’ He also recalled ‘other incidents that were totally unacceptable. At one stage he roughed me up fairly badly.  He caught me by the two lapels of my shirt and dragged me out over the table. I caught my knees on the way out. ‘He slapped me in the face one day in the hallway and caught me up against the wall another time with his forearm under my chin and his finger in my face. ‘He caught my arm and twisted it up behind my back too. It was really painful.’ The former student said that he reported Mr Condon at the time, but he never heard anything about it again. ‘Looking back on it all now, I was a 12-year-old chap, and I wasn’t a big one.’ Another former student who attended the same school claimed he was physically confronted by John Condon in 2001, when just 14. He alleged: ‘I refused to let him hit me with a T-square and he squared up to me. I was boarding, and was kicked out of his house. ‘He was a weak man and he was exercising the little power he had. He would make kids stand with their arms out straight holding the big heavy history book as punishment for talking.’ The parent of a child currently attending Belmayne Community Special School has a lot of ‘concerns’ about his son’s treatment. He said his non-verbal nine-year-old son has been suspended repeatedly since he joined the school. ‘My son has never done a full day [since starting last November],’ he told the MoS. ‘John has suspended him a few times because of his behaviour. He suspended him and told him, “let this be a day of reflection”. How does a nine-year-old non-verbal child reflect on a suspension? ‘He gave me a letter when [my son] was last suspended, where he stated that his placement was under threat... [knowing] this is a child with additional needs, and how hard it is to get into a school. ‘A lot of the parents are really concerned how he [Condon] got the job when there was a Tusla finding against him.’ Another parent of a child who attended St Peter’s Special School while Mr Condon was principal there from 2017 to 2021 said her son missed seven months of school after he was expelled. She told the MoS: ‘This is a school for children with emotional and behavioural problems. Prior to him starting the school, they were fully aware of his struggles and took him on.’ But she claimed: ‘My son was constantly suspended, either internally or externally. Then, on October 7, 2017, he was expelled.’ The mother had the support of the then Irish Autism Association (IAA) and applied for a Section 29 appeal under the Education Act, which she won.  Despite this, she said her son ‘was only allowed [to return to the school] for a reduced day of three hours.’ She added: ‘That year, my son missed months of school and his confirmation with his peers. ‘The following October, it was reduced further to two hours. The IAA met with the school, myself and my son and put plans in place to manage my son’s behaviour, but these were never followed.’ The mother claims Mr Condon ‘had it out for me and my son’. She added: ‘My son saw how other children got away with things, but if he did the smallest thing wrong, it was a big deal. ‘Mr Condon had it out for me and my son, which had a huge negative impact on both our mental health.’ The mother said her son moved to a mainstream school in 2021, where he spent three years with no extra supports. ‘He thrived in a school where staff believed in him,’ she said. ‘I have been reading my son’s old reports and emails [since reading last week’s MoS article], and it makes me so angry that a person who could inflict the abuse from the article is allowed to remain working with children, in particular vulnerable children.’ Mr Condon, who also worked as head of adult education with Down Syndrome Ireland from September 2022 to January 2025, was appointed principal of Belmayne Community Special School in late 2025. The school opened last November under the patronage of Dublin and Dún Laoghaire Education and Training Board (DDLETB) for children aged four to 18 who have autism and complex needs, including moderate or severe-to-profound learning disabilities. At a meeting with parents of Belmayne Community Special School on Thursday night in the wake of our revelations, DDLETB representatives confirmed they have launched an internal investigation. Afterwards, the parents issued a statement thanking DDLETB and said they had been given ‘assurances that a full internal investigation is currently under way and that the deeply disturbing concerns that were raised regarding principal John Condon will be dealt with accordingly’. The statement added: ‘As parents, we expect these matters to be handled thoroughly, fairly and with the seriousness they warrant.’ Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.