Last week, this reporter was party to a general discussion among teachers and non-teachers about the 30 per cent pay demand from the Association of Secondary Teachers, Ireland (ASTI). There was the customary sarcasm from some of those present about the short working days and the long holidays that teachers enjoy. But the laughter faded when one of those present - a long-serving teacher in one of Dublin's poorest areas - posed a provocative question: "How many of you present want your sons and daughters to enter the teaching profession?"

The answer, in truth, was that most of those around the table would now prefer to see their children in the lucrative information technology sector, in business or in some other profession than in the classroom. The harsh reality is that teaching no longer enjoys the same status that it occupied even a decade ago. A recent survey - quoted by the ASTI in support of its pay claim - indicates a sharp decline in the desirability of the profession to school-leavers. The union also cites the fact that 400 fewer people applied last year for the Higher Diploma in Education (the secondary teaching qualification) than did so the year before.

The apparent decline in teachers' status has come just as many teachers believe themselves to be facing an unprecedented level of pressure in the classroom. While parents and media complain about the poor level of public accountability in Irish education, the view from the chalkface is different.

Senator Joe O'Toole, general secretary of the Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO), echoed the mood in a speech in Donegal last week: "Teachers have never been more in the firing line; it has never been so difficult in school. Primary teachers in the classrooms of today feel they are the dustbin where everybody's fresh idea for education or every expert's new proposal to cure the ills of society finish up."

Teaching staff, he said, are being overwhelmed by a tidal wave of change and are now preparing themselves for a barrage of new duties and functions in the next five years. The situation at second level is no different. Many highly accomplished teachers - who believe they have been doing a very good job without due recognition for a long time - suddenly feel they are under scrutiny from parents and the rest of society as never before. "A decade ago, we were getting on with the job and doing it well. Now, everyone appears to be more demanding of us. Everybody seems to want something more or something else," said one Dublin teacher.

There is also, among many teachers, a deep sense of suspicion about any Government initiatives designed to "modernise" the profession. For months, many teachers were convinced that the national pay deal would include some kind of individualised performance-related pay element - despite repeated assurances from the leaderships of all three teaching unions that this would not be the case.

All of this might help to explain why the ASTI left the negotiating table during the national pay talks, disaffiliated from the ICTU and lodged a 30 per cent pay claim. It might also explain why the Teachers' Union of Ireland (TUI) is putting the pay deal to a ballot without any recommendation from its leadership.

Alone among the teaching unions, the INTO has recommended acceptance of the deal, which will deliver a pay increase of over 19 per cent over the 33-month period of the agreement. When combined with the tax changes in the Budget, the national pay deal will yield a cumulative 29 per cent salary increase for teachers.

Some in the INTO leadership believed that a pay offer on this scale would be relatively easy to sell to members. But it is not working out that way. Despite strong support in rural areas, the INTO is struggling to convince Dublin teachers.

One north Dublin teacher, whose branch rejected the deal last week, says he is mystified: "Joe O'Toole was very strong in selling the deal, in providing reassurances that there was no performance-related pay, in stressing how the agreement's review clause could counter any significant increase in inflation. But it seemed to make no difference. The mood of the meeting was against the pay deal - but for no one precise reason."

SOURCES at the INTO remain confident that the pay deal will be endorsed by a 60-40 margin. Sources in the TUI also expect that the deal will be supported, probably by a very tight margin. The TUI's general secretary, Jim Dorney, secured an important victory last week when the High Court rejected the assertion by two executive members that the TUI leadership had not presented a fair and balanced view of the national pay deal. It is expected that this ruling will give a fillip to the pro-agreement view within the union. For its part, the ASTI is watching the outcome of the other teaching unions' ballots from the sidelines.

The ASTI faces a difficult dilemma if both the INTO and the TUI endorse the deal. Should it accept the 19 per cent on offer or should it launch a campaign of industrial action in pursuit of an additional 11 per cent in April and May, after the Budget tax gains come through and just as the school year draws to a close?

The Government will be anxiously awaiting the outcome of the INTO and TUI ballots and the response from the ASTI. It will be crossing its fingers and hoping for the best. Certainly, it will not want to take on the teaching profession in its current restive mood.