Teacher's PET

An insider's guide to education.

Goodbye and thank you to Michael Woods, who hosted his last press conference last week. TP is from the old school where courtesy and good manners count for a lot. Okay, Woods was hardly dynamic, but he is a nice man. And who should be alongside him at the final press conference? None other than Mary Hanafin, who TP has backed at very generous odds to be the next education minister. Apparently, the former Sion Hill teacher, is taking all this speculation in her stride. Good luck to her!

PS Could Bertie please reward Willie O'Dea who was also at The Last Press Conference? The guy has brains, a great moustache and a sense of humour - even about himself!

The race to succeed Art Cosgrove as Big Cheese in UCD is already under way. But this elaborate process to appoint his successor is upsetting the applecart or even the apple tart, as Bertie might say.

Now comes news that Mrs Justice Catherine Mc Guinness and Mary Leader of the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland have been drafted in by Ronan Fanning to ensure UCD gets the pick of the crop.

The plan is that high-flying academics from all corners of the globe will be desperate for the UCD job. But the lousy salary - less than a half of that available overseas - makes this less likely. TP's money is still on an insider to take the post!

Congrats to UCC for giving Roy Keane his honorary doctorate last week. Say what you like, but Keane has done more to lift the spirit of the nation than most academics.

TP hears that frantic efforts are under way to get Bernadine some loot to support her Seanad campaign after those spoilsports in the Ethics in Public Office group limited the ASTI contribution to just over €2,000. Last week, there was loose talk about loans and even corporate support for Bernadine; we await developments. Incidentally, TP notes that bernadineosullivan.com has now had over 2,500 visitors. We particularly love the letters section, where the Bernadistas rail against an unfair world. But how come none of these letters are signed?

TP hears that Fianna Fáil were not crazy about the INTO's decision to issue a press release on school buildings smack in the middle of the election campaign. The press release appeared to shore up Róisín Shortall's allegation that Fianna Fáil were wriggling on the issue. TP says fair play to the INTO and to Shortall. At last, a Minister exposed!

Got any education gossip?

You can e-mail TP at teacherspet@irish-times.ie