The mother of a child at a south Dublin creche has described her horror at seeing CCTV footage of her daughter being dragged across the floor “as if she was a rag doll” by a staff member who has since been sacked.
Earlier this week The Irish Times reported that the female staff member was dismissed in August after allegedly physically mistreating a number of young children under her care.
Clare Quinn, whose young daughter Isla attended the creche, was one of a number of parents who said they were shown CCTV footage of the woman allegedly assaulting their children.
“I can still see Isla screaming in fear,” Ms Quinn said, adding that the footage was incredibly distressing to watch.
The creche is one of several branches run by Once Upon a Time in Dublin.
It is understood a colleague of the woman raised the alarm on August 12th, prompting management to review CCTV footage. Based on what they saw, the woman was fired “with immediate effect”. The company also said “the matter was reported without delay to Tusla and An Garda Síochána”.
Ms Quinn said she was called to a meeting at the creche on August 13th where she and her husband Jack were shown the footage.
“[Isla] was walking along on her own and a woman came up and pulled the legs out from underneath her, and her head smacked on the floor,” Ms Quinn said. “The woman then dragged her across the floor back and forth, as if she was a rag doll.”
The footage showed the worker pin Isla’s legs down and squeeze them, she said.
Mr Quinn said they were grateful the whistleblower spoke up but they still had many questions.
He said he felt a mixture of “anger, fear, sadness” and “a lot of guilt” – in case he “missed an opportunity for earlier intervention”.
“Obviously Isla has no voice, she can’t tell me what was happening.”
The couple have given a statement to gardaí.
[ CCTV in creches: do safeguarding benefits outweigh privacy concerns? ]
Ms Quinn, who had recently returned to her employment after maternity leave, has now stepped back from work again to take care of Isla. The couple decided Isla would not return to the creche and they have been unable to secure alternative childcare.
Another father, who wished to remain anonymous, said he was told by the creche on September 1st that his child was among those affected.
He said he had not received “a clear explanation of what happened on the day in question”.
A statement from Once Upon a Time read: “All communication and timing of such with parents has been followed on the instruction of An Garda Síochána.”
The company said it did not wish to comment further while the Garda investigation was ongoing as “we do not wish to prejudice that investigation in any way”.
Once Upon a Time operates several nursery and Montessori schools across Dublin. Anne Marie and David McCormack, the company’s codirectors, earlier this week said the “matter came to light when a senior staff member, using our internal whistleblowing process, raised concerns and requested a review of CCTV footage”.
The staff member in question was “fully Garda-vetted” and had verified written references. The company said other staff were upset by the incident and were offered counselling.
“While our policies, procedures, and training were already in place and fully compliant, we went further.
“Additional safeguarding measures were introduced immediately, including on-site retraining, evening workshops, specialist sessions, and strengthened staff supervision protocols,” the statement read.
“The welfare of children is and always will be our absolute priority.”
A Tusla inspection report said the facility had high levels of compliance related to issues such as child safety and staffing levels.
A spokesman said Tusla could not comment on the specifics of the situation but confirmed that its early-years inspectorate “responded to an internal alert from our child protection and welfare team in relation to this matter, and followed all documented regulation processes as appropriate”.
Gardaí confirmed they were “carrying out inquiries” into the matter but, “due to the sensitive nature”, could not comment further.