So, I wrote to Ed Byrne, President of the ASTI, during the week of the latest ballot. It was my first snail mail in rather a long time but then I thought it was worth the effort. Nearly two weeks on, I have no reply still. It goes like this; […]
Brian Mooney was on Today with Sean O'Rourke on RTE Radio.I don't know Brian. I've never met him. I have read his column in the Irish Times in the past and on a rare occasion I might disagree with some of his advice, although I can't recall a specific time. Brian also […]
Let me start off by ‘making myself popular’ as my wife would say! I like Richard Bruton. I know I shouldn’t. I’m not a natural Fine Gael supporter eventhough I voted for Francis Fitzgerald in the last election. But I do like Richard. I think he is a consumate professional […]
I've never been one to go with the flow, to accept that just because 'everyone else' is doing something, I should also do the same. If you are part of the crowd, you might think me contrary or difficult. Of course, if you are more independent-minded, you might just think […]
Minster for Education Richard Bruton was on RTE’s Morning Ireland programme on Wednesday 26th October and had some interesting perspectives on the teacher strike. Some are his/DES perspective and just that. Not necessarily right, not necessarily wrong. The ASTI also have their perspective. Perspectives are only useful when trying to apportion […]
I am a strong believer that it takes a village to rare a child. Teachers are only part of the equation and long before I became a parent myself, I understood clearly the value of parental involvement in the education of a child. Indeed, far too many parents ignore this […]
So I promised a solution. And then it hit me that I promised a solution! The fact is, from where we are, I cannot see a meaningful solution. Tomorrow, there will be some sort of talks, and both sides may come out and give wildly different accounts of what was […]
Ah, no you may say. Surely there is no connection between these three thingymabobs. Two certainly, but not three. But as this is Maths/Numeracy Week, here goes. The fundamental problem with the Celtic Tiger was NOT the Social Partnership agreements. These agreements offered the foundation for industrial peace. However, the foundation was […]
I’ve never been one to view worker-employer relationships as a them-and-us construct. The lack of human capacity to truly accept responsibility for one’s actions, and the underlying cowardice that can’t but pursue expedient escape routes has meant that there always will be plenty of blame to spread around conflicting parties. We should always be careful […]