Teacher's PET

It was all sweetness and light at the Berkeley Court last week when Michael Woods welcomed Martin McGuinness, Dermot Nesbitt and company to the North/South education council. Who would have thought it five years ago - McGuinness, Nesbitt and Woods on the same platform? And all singing from the same hymn sheet. The good news is that Martin is already showing a pragmatic side. Despite Sinn FΘin's love of the cupla focal the Irish requirement for Northern teachers in the Republic has been relaxed. It is all, apparently, part of increasing mobility on the island. And there was TP thinking it was all because of the acute shortage of primary teachers in the Republic?

Last week saw a first for Irish education. The president of DCU, Ferdinand von Prondzynski, became the first serving university president ever to sit on the board of a NASDAQ-listed company. His appointment to the board of Smartforce, an e-learning company, has raised a few eyebrows in the close-knit university sector. Those academics who feel squeamish about ever closer links between business and the universities muttered about the whole exercise. But to be fair to the good Doctor, he has made no bones about his attempts to forge ever- deeper links between DCU and the business world. The question now is: will other university chiefs serve on the boards of public companies? Or more pertinently, do any boards want them?

TP's hero of the week is Tom Turpin, the freedom of information officer at Trinity College Dublin. While some universities have been dragging their heels, TCD has been a model of courtesy and efficiency. Other colleges please copy! One other note of interest about the freedom of information era: the NUI, an important body with a role at four of our universities, is not covered by the Act. TP cannot think of a single reason why.

The INTO head-office team for the PJ (post Joe O'Toole) era is now being assembled. John Carr, the general secretary-designate, and the interview panel have appointed three assistant general secretaries. They are Tom O'Sullivan, Billy Sheehan and Anne McElduff.

Surprisingly, Noel Ward - husband of INTO president Joan - did not make it. Ward, who came third in the election for general secretary, is a former programme manager for Pat Rabbitte. Carr, meanwhile, will (eventually) take over from Senator Joe at the INTO conference next Easter. Yes I know its been a long wait. He is serious, well-informed and tough. Underestimate him at your peril!

E-mail TP in confidence at teacherspet@irish-times.ie