Hardline ASTI member in running for top post

A HARDLINE member of the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) could be elected to its highest position by Easter.

Bernard Lynch, a strong advocate of the pay dispute that closed secondary schools on a number of occasions in the late 1990s, is one of two candidates for vice-president of the union. The holder of that position is traditionally elected unopposed the following year as ASTI president.

Mr Lynch is almost neck-and-neck with the other candidate, Pat Hurley from Cork, ahead of next month’s vote.