Award Winning Journalist Was Stopped From Showing This Video In Irish School Because of ‘Catholic Values’

An award-winning journalist from Longford has expressed her disappointment at being forbidden to show a video highlighting her work at an awards night in her school.

Channel 4 Unreported World journalist, Shaunagh Connaire, was invited to speak at her old school, Meán Scoil Mhuire in Longford, but was contacted to say they wouldn't show a video montage she had put together for the event after she had flown in to Ireland.

One of the reasons given was that the school was 'upholding the CEIST (Catholic Education An Irish Schools’ Trust) values of the school'.

The emmy-nominated and duPont Columbia award-winning journalist took to Facebook to share the clip, "in the hope that some of those students are on Facebook and might want to watch it."

She also invited any students to reach out to her for career advice or life advice in general at any time and apologised for not being there.

She wrote: "I was invited to my local convent in Longford to give a talk this evening to students before they embark on their future careers. Earlier today, after I'd landed in Ireland, I received a call from my former school to say they wouldn't show the video montage I put together for the event."

"It's a 5 minute clip of the documentaries I made with Channel 4 Unreported World over the past few years. They cited various reasons for their decision including 'upholding the CEIST (Catholic Education An Irish Schools’ Trust) values of the school'."

"I'm disappointed to think these young women are not being encouraged to make up their own minds about important issues in our world today and I felt obliged not to take part in the evening as result."

In a statement released to the Longford Leader, Meán Scoil Mhuire said that "due to circumstances beyond our control, guest speaker Shaunagh Connaire was unable to attend" the event.