Minister agrees to attend ASTI annual conference

Education Minister Noel Dempsey has agreed to attend the annual conference of the Association of Secondary Teachers next week.

Mr Dempsey had previously refused to attend the annual conventions of all three teachers’ unions in protest at the format of the meetings, which he claimed hampered debate.

However, in the past few weeks, he agreed to attend the TUI and INTO conferences because of the unions’ decision to alter the format of the gatherings.

This morning, Mr Dempsey said he would also be attending the ASTI conference as the association had agreed to facilitate more debate.