Union to confer in wake of parent’s assault on school principal

A senior INTO representative said yesterday it was “very regrettable that a public servant was assaulted during the course of his work”.

INTO executive member for the Mid-West Sean McMahon was commenting on a district court hearing last week where a parent was found guilty of the assault on the principal of Labasheeda National School, Co Clare. Principal Liam Woulfe was punched in the face after a parent came to see him about an eight-year-old boy. The parent has since withdrawn his two children from the school.

Yesterday, Mr McMahon said: “Liam Woulfe has been a very effective school principal. He has a wealth of experience and would be more than amenable to discussion.”

The INTO is to hold a special conference on Dec 8 in Croke Park, where the theme will be assaults on teachers. The conference is being held in response to a motion passed at the union’s 2012 congress in Killarney.

The motion noted with concern the increase in verbal and physical attacks on teachers in schools, including special schools and autistic units, and the detrimental impact this has on the physical and mental health of teachers, as well as the lack of unified safety guidelines in the area of physical restraint.

The one-day conference is to draw up a policy document and unified guidelines addressing the issue of assaults on teachers.

Mr McMahon said assaults by parents on teachers “are very rare in my experience”. When an assault does take place, he said, “it is a very frightening scenario for the teacher concerned. It can be very traumatic not just for the teacher, but for wider school and board of management”.

An INTO spokesman said yesterday: “Violence against school staff cannot be tolerated.

“Where assaults do occur they must be dealt with properly. Assaults against teachers do not happen very often but have increased in recent years. When they occur, the impact on the individual teacher or teachers can be very severe. There can also be a significant effect on other teachers in the school.

“Boards of management are obliged to provide a safe place of work for employees and take measures to minimise the risk of assaults.”

In the Clare case, the parent was ordered to pay €400 in expenses to Mr Woulfe. The case was also adjourned to April to allow mediation to take place.

Both sides stated they would approach the Bishop of Killaloe and school patron Dr Kieran O’Reilly to oversee the mediation.