MINISTER'S ADDRESS:ANGRY TEACHERS – some carrying posters and an image of disgraced banker Seán FitzPatrick – jostled Minister for Education and Skills Mary Coughlan at yesterday's Teachers' Union of Ireland (TUI) conference in Ennis.
The Minister was told that she and her Government colleagues were responsible for the collapse of the economy and had “not even had the decency to admit it”.
Her address was met with silence in the hall, and there were only six walkouts, after a concerted overnight effort by the TUI executive to manage the union reception.
Ms Coughlan told 450 TUI members, who unanimously rejected the Government pay deal on Tuesday, that she too was “galled” by the bank bailout. However, she urged the teaching union to give consideration to the agreement negotiated in the Croke Park conference centre last month.
To shouts of “treason” from the hall, Ms Coughlan warned that €3 billion in cuts to public services would be required next year. She said €1 billion would come from capital spending with the remainder achieved through cuts in services or through tax increases.
“I fully accept that some of the decisions the Government has had to take over the past year created anxiety and difficulty for many of your members. People are understandably angry and find certain decisions hard to accept,” Ms Coughlan said.
“Nobody wants to see less coming home in his or her pay packet at the end of the month.
“In response, I can only ask that you believe me when I say that in taking those decisions we were guided at all times by the national interest and the need to ensure we can sustain public services into the future.”
She said she believed the pay agreement represented a reasonable basis to move forward. “That said, I appreciate that your members must make their own decision in this matter through your own democratic processes.”
In an anticipated move, she announced that her department would be examining the issue of the moratorium on recruitment to special posts of responsibility in instances where retirement levels were affecting the day to day running of the school. The Tánaiste also indicated that she would support the awarding of bonus points to students taking honours maths in the Leaving Certificate.
In a strongly-worded response, TUI president Don Ryan addressed the Minister in her role as Tánaiste and blamed her and her colleagues directly for the collapse of the Irish economy.
He accused her of sacrificing Irish children and grandchildren to “save the necks of those who have committed treason” against the country. “This is totally and absolutely your fault Minister, and your Government’s fault,” he said, “and neither you or any of your colleagues in Government has the decency to admit your mistakes”.
There were boisterous standing ovations for Mr Ryan’s speech, in which he reminded Ms Coughlan that the last tánaiste who served as a minister for education, Sean T O’Kelly, only lasted 19 days in the job.
As Ms Coughlan finished her speech, a teacher holding a poster of former Anglo Irish Bank chairman Seán FitzPatrick approached the podium. A number of delegates then followed the Minister out of the hall and jostled her with “No to Nama” posters and placards.
Earlier, Ms Coughlan extended her sympathy to TUI members for the loss of Nigerian student Toyosi Shittabey from Hartstown, who was stabbed to death in Tyrrelstown on Good Friday. Delegates held a minute’s silence for the 15-year-old on Tuesday.