Teacher's Pet

An insider's guide to education

One of the true giants of the Irish education landscape is preparing to leave the crease. Dr Don Thornhill, the head of the Higher Education Authority (HEA) e-mailed staff and other luminaries last week to thank them for their assistance over the years. He will leave his post in mid- January.

Thornhill, a former secretary of the Department of Education, has been a hugely influential figure in Irish education for years. He has managed something very unusual in Irish public life . He is both hugely respected and very well liked, not least because of his great capacity for self-deprecation.

The hope in the education sector is that his expertise will not be lost. This seems unlikely. The word is that he has already been inundated with job offers.

What are we to make of Gymgate, the scandal that is said to have engulfed UCD boss Hugh Brady?

Last week, those cheeky chappies in the UCD Students' Union marched on the home of the president. As the cutbacks take hold in Belfield, they are demanding the same kind of luxuries that the president apparently takes for granted in his luxurious dacha on the campus. This is said to include a new state- of-the-art gym.

Bad news! The gym is made up of an exercise bike and a few dumb-bells - although the house itself did get the benefit of a €1 million make-over. So will Brady survive Gymgate? In a word, yes.

More news from Marlborough Street where the race is on to succeed the legendary John Dennehy. Assistant secretary Pat Burke is emerging as the favourite, but Martin Hanevy, Eamonn Stack and Paul Kelly are also in the frame. There is even speculation that an outsider could be appointed to shake things up? Surely not?

Good to see University of Limerick boss Roger Downer, managing to achieve significant reform on the campus - without attracting the kind of ferocious reaction which has become de rigeur elsewhere. Downer is said to be proud of what has been called the "quiet revolution" in UL. Is there a model here for the rest of the university sector?

Got any education gossip? E-mail us, in confidence, at teacherspet@irish-times.ie