THE INTO is the most powerful and influential teacher union in the State with, 30,000 members in the Republic.

Its conference tends to generate more headlines than any other.

Traditionally, the INTO conference is also the first teacher conference of the week to be addressed by the Minister for Education. Because of this, it can set the agenda for the entire week.

The INTO is often compared to the GAA or Fianna Fáil. It is a truly national organisation with a reach and an influence in every town and parish. It has an enviable ability to mobilise its troops on key issues, as Mary Hanafin discovered during the class-size campaign last year.

The Minister and the media reckoned that the pre-election campaign would fail to take flight. Both were mistaken. Some 18,000 people attended public meetings often on rainy Wednesday nights all over the country.

The INTO has kept up the pressure on the Minister over class size, school buildings, funding and a range of other issues. Relations between the union and the Minister have been tense in recent months as the INTO has exposed what it has cast as Hanafin's "broken promises" on class size.

That said, the INTO has acknowledged Hanafin's record on special needs. The union credits her with doing more than any of her predecessors in this area, even though the current level of provision remains patchy.

What of the INTO leadership?

John Carr, the union's general secretary is a serious-minded, hard-working trade union official. Much less showy and demonstrative than his predecessor Joe O' Toole, he has arguably been an even more effective leader.

A key to Carr's success has been his ability to secure new teaching posts. When Carr was elected as general secretary in 2000 there were 22,000 teachers for 440,000 pupils. Today, there are 30,000 teachers for 470,000 children.

Carr is hugely proud of his Donegal roots. He was recently voted Donegal Person of the Year for his contribution to education. It is a prestigious honour previously awarded to the likes of Bríd Rogers of the SDLP, fishermen's representative Joey Murrin, Daniel O'Donnell and Packie Bonner.

Despite their differences on class size and the rest, Mary Hanafin was on hand to see Carr take the award; something he hugely appreciated.

In an interview with the Donegal Democrat, the Minister was effusive in her praise.

John Carr has "brought great leadership to the INTO. For me he is a genuine educationalist as well. He is genuinely interested not just in union issues, but in the impact they can have on children."

She continued: "I might not agree with all the things he would say or do, but he is doing it because his heart believes in it."

What of the conference itself? The Minister will tell delegates this morning that the state of the public finances prevents her from tackling over-crowded classes.

Expect this to go down like a lead balloon with delegates. As one said last night: "That line might carry some credibility if she hadn't been the Minister who promised to deliver in the first place."

Funding of schools will be a major issue. The INTO warned this time last year that water charges would take the last few cents out of school piggy banks. The dithering of the Government on the issue before Christmas still rankles with teachers.

The state of school buildings is also back on the agenda. The cancellation of the summer works scheme - used to upgrade schools - will be widely criticised.

The INTO also tends to be progressive and forward-thinking on issues like newcomer children and patronage of schools. Both of these issues are likely to surface at the conference.

It is not all hard work at the INTO conference. Delegates tend to work hard and play hard. Many travel with a guitar in hand and can be relied upon to roll out the old folk songs into the early hours.

If you are ambling across the lobby of the Hotel Kilkenny at 5am there is a good chance you will hear all those old favourites from Neil Young, Robbie Williams and Neil Diamond.

And the quality, even in the early hours, is invariably high. These are primary teachers after all. And they can be relied upon to hold a tune.

One of the surprising features of the INTO conference is the large number of younger delegates. The union tends to be much more successful than the other teaching unions in getting young members to become active in the organisation.

The other striking feature of the INTO conference is the number of male teachers who attend.

About 80 per cent of all primary teachers are female. A Department of Education marketing campaign has had some limited success in drawing more males to the classroom but the profession remains largely feminine. But you would never think this to look around the INTO conference where there often seems a 60:40 balance of female to male delegates.