The principal of an all-boys secondary school in Dublin refused to allow an anti-homophobic bullying seminar to take place in his school this morning, claiming: “Both sides of the argument need to be represented.”

Finín Máirtín, principal of Coláiste Eoin in Booterstown, Dublin, cancelled the workshop today, despite the fact the same discussion had been included as part of the school’s transition year programme in 2012 and 2013.

ShoutOut, a voluntary organisation which offers free workshops on LGBT issues to secondary schools nationwide, said it was left baffled by the last-minute decision.

The group, which was co-founded by a former pupil of Coláiste Íosagáin - the all-girls sister school of Coláiste Eoin - was then told by Mr Máirtín that, “both sides of the argument need to be represented,” and that he wished to make no further comment.

“We had arranged with the TY co-ordinator of the school to run a workshop today with around 120 students,” says Declan Meehan, ShoutOut’s schools co-ordinator and communications officer.

“Then we got an email saying it had been cancelled with immediate effect, offering no explanation. One of our volunteers managed to speak to the principal, who said it was about representing both sides.”

“We were left perplexed by this, as ShoutOut isn’t a political organisation. We don’t advocate on political issues. We are an anti-bullying platform, trying to convey to pupils some of the homophobic and transphobic issues that LGBTQ students might face on a daily basis,” Mr Meehan said.

“What we do is offer free workshops on bullying, and those programmes do not take any sort of political stand relating to any upcoming referendum.”

Disheartening response from Colaiste Eoin (Stillorgan) about canceling @ShoutOut_IE workshop: "We stand by our decision".

— Eoin O'Liatháin (@ONOLiathain) January 27, 2015

In Coláiste Eoin's anti-bullying policy, published on its website, the school's board of management states a commitment to implementing education and prevention strategies for instances of bullying, in particular when it is homophobic or transphobic in nature. 

ShoutOut, Mr Meehan said, contacted every secondary school in the country last year offering its workshops, but the invitation was only taken up by 50 schools in 2014.

Newstalk reached out to Coláiste Eoin, but Finín Máirtín could not be reached for comment at the time of publishing.