Gap left by death of IVEA secretary

THE SUDDEN DEATH of IVEA general secretary Joe Rooney last week has left a gaping hole in the organisation, one the embattled VECs will hard to fill.

The Irish Vocational Education Association meets today to decide on its options, now that it has lost its first and only full-time official. His passing is likely to delay a deal on teachers' pay and conditions under the PCW, and the resolution of differences between the IVEA and the TUI over a new method for promotions.

As one observer put it, the IVEA was essentially a one-man show", with Rooney at the helm since 1980. As a "gamekeeper turned poacher" - he served as TUI president from 1977 to 1979 - he brought his union expertise to the negotiating table.

This was evident in the recent spat with the TUI over the union's desire for new procedures for fillings promoted positions. The IVEA took typically tough stand by pulling out of these talks, thereby putting the entire PCW negotiations at risk. Efforts to resolve these differences had been making good progress when Rooney died.

For 15 years, Rooney imposed a fragile unity on different VEC interests. His passing could not have come at a worse time for the organisation, which also lost longtime president Sean Conway through death last December.

Last month, the Minister for Education took the first step towards rationalising the VEC system when she decided to abolish the five town committees. Further closures are likely, unless the normally secretive VECs can make a convincing case for their survival.

But who is there to do that now?