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Teachers have - for the third year in a row - pay at the top of their convention agenda. Instead of celebrating a conclusion, we have a package before us which is an insult to ordinary teachers, especially given last week's Labour Court recommendation to Aer Lingus workers. Then, a SIPTU spokesperson was able to claim that the court had given workers 90 per cent of what they were looking for.

Conference delegates will be doing some critical reflection on the handling of this dispute by our union - and on the attitude of the Government to teachers. The big questions will be: what are the lessons to be learned and where do we go from here? Do we say to the Government that they have not only defeated us, but also demoralised us as a profession and as a union?