Three-week-long Down teachers' strike to end

A teachers’ strike in the North ended tonight after employers and unions representatives reached a settlement.

The Labour Relations Agency said teachers at Movilla High School in Newtownards in Co Down would return to class on Monday after the three-week stoppage.

They had walked out after a dispute over an alleged assault on a teacher by a pupil.

The teenager is due to appear in juvenile court next month in relation to the incident.

Staff who refused to teach the 15-year-old boy took the action after the South Eastern Education and Library Board informed them their pay would be suspended.

A settlement had stalled over a union precondition that it could have access to an independent report that is to be carried out on the pupil’s needs.

The deal was finally struck after the board agreed to allow one nominated union representative access after it gained the consent of the boy’s parents.