Breakthrough between unions and teachers only likely close to strike day

Any breakthrough in the junior cycle reform dispute is only likely within days of a planned teachers’ strike at the country’s second-level schools in less than a fortnight.

Efforts to reconvene talks between the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI), Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI), and Education Minister Jan O’Sullivan have been under way since mid-December.

Pauric Travers was asked by Ms O’Sullivan to meet with both sides to see if there was any scope to resume previous talks that had taken place under his chairmanship in November. The unions’ withdrawal from those discussions led to them staging a one-day strike on December 2, and later announcing a second one-day stoppage at 720 schools for Thursday, January 22.