Clarinet prof challenges RIAM retirement
The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) has said the mandatory retirement at 70 challenge by a classical musician at Dublin’s Royal Irish Academy of Music (RIAM) should proceed to investigation.
The complainant, John Finucane, is a noted musician recognised as a soloist, orchestral, artist and teacher.
He joined the RIAM in 1995 and was appointed Professor of Clarinet on a ten hours per week contract.
In 2011 he signed a contract of indefinite duration.
He turned 70 on 3 August 2025.
In November 2024, the RIAM offered the complainant a two-year fixed-term contract expiring on 3 August 2027.
The respondent maintained that the complainant's agreed retirement age was 70 and that the two-year fixed-term contract was an extension.
The complainant told the WRC that other employees had worked on into their 80s and 90s.
In 2024, he received a letter from the RIAM stating that its retirement policy aligned with current public-sector policy, which mandates an upper retirement age of 70.
Three other staff members who worked past 70 had either a different contract of employment or were past the age when the policy was enacted, the RIAM stated, giving a retirement date of 3 August 2025.
Private students transfer
Following negotiations, a two-year non-renewable term was offered, with a reduced working week – from ten to eight hours – and transfer of private students to RIAM.
The WRC said that the RIAM believed that the matter was outside statutory time limits.
However, WRC adjudicator Gaye Cunningham found that correspondence between the parties meant that the respondent was on notice within the statutory time period.
The adjudication officer found that the matter should proceed to an investigation of the substantive issue, but this does not indicate that the complainant may succeed.