No surprises if teachers show the red card to Croke Park II

The teachers of the country got some bad press over their rowdy behaviour — and their red cards — to Ruairi Quinn this week.

Despite the mist of anger behind the less than polite behaviour — most particularly at the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) congress on Tuesday and Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) convention a day later — the true colour of the wider teaching community’s mood will only become clear the week after next.

As the countdown to the all-important Apr 17 collective vote of public sector bodies in the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu) nears completion, focus will come on the INTO result of its ballot on Croke Park II the day before. An ASTI result will be known in just over a week’s time, but nobody will be surprised if its membership strongly rejects the deal, with its pay cuts for higher-earning teachers and loss of payment for supervision duties prompting the union executive and this week’s convention strongly recommending a no vote.