Much is said and written about the provision of quality public services. Rarely, if ever, is there opposition to calls for further improvements in all areas of social provision, particularly in the sensitive areas of health and education. So when the Irish Nurses Organisation (INO) calls for more specialist nurses or the ASTI calls for an improvement in the teacher-pupil ratio, there is general approval and sympathy on the basis that such improvements will ultimately benefit all of society.

However, when the same unions call for improvements in the education system or health services through increased salaries for teachers or nurses, the response is far less clear-cut, and the battle for the hearts and minds of the general public can be expected to commence in earnest.

Now that the ASTI has started the process of balloting its members, seeking a mandate for industrial action, the PR battle, or X factor, will become a major element of their campaign. This time last year the INO was in a similar position, preparing for the first-ever Statewide nurses strike against a background of a refusal by Government to enter talks and an overt, and indeed covert, campaign to isolate the union, create doubts about the strategy of the leadership, undermine the merits of any claim and, ultimately, create concern in the minds of the general public that lives would be put at risk.

While in a teachers dispute one does not have the emotive issues of people's access to immediate health care, a detailed examination of the potent issue of the welfare and education of children will very quickly come to the fore. In recognising this, the ASTI has already brought forward a media campaign on the essential role teachers play. As we move closer to confrontation the ASTI will have to maintain a strong focus in this area and devote considerable resources to the PR battle.

The union will learn very early about the insatiable demands of the media in the lead-up to and for the duration of any dispute. One has always had the national print media, radio and television; the advent, in recent years, of local radio means the number of media outlets has increased four-fold in a decade. This requires the union to prepare a well informed network of representatives, at regional and local level, who can communicate the merits of the argument and the broad message.

While our colleagues in the ASTI know this already, it is worth repeating that all arguments need to be well researched and presented in a manner which the average listener or reader can understand. While they might become animated about OECD comparative earnings tables, international comparisons of teacher-pupil ratios and the average amount of out-of-hours additional teaching commitment, the public may not be so interested. Instead the focus is likely to turn again and again to: Are teachers poorly paid for what they do? What about the length of the school year? Will my child's preparation for exams be detrimentally affected by school closures? Isn't teaching a safe and secure job for life? All of these avenues will have to be examined and responses prepared.

In any PR campaign there will be highs and lows, and as any dispute continues over a period of time the media will have to dig deeper and deeper to fill the column inches - so the entire profession must be prepared for a public dissection and analysis of all aspects of their work. If teachers do take to the picket lines then the media, local or national, will have direct access to any of their members outside any secondary school in the State. The reporting in the media of comments or individual viewpoints from any member not prepared or well researched can be damaging. This is something the ASTI will have to be constantly vigilant about - but is impossible to fully control.

I use the word "control" - after all, good PR essentially involves controlling the agenda, consistently and repeatedly conveying strong and simple lines of argument to the target audience. As it approaches turbulent waters, the ASTI knows a good PR campaign is an essential component of its campaign. In a State which is essentially a large "parish", and with a public that has a great interest in and strong appetite for news and current affairs, the PR battle lines will be drawn up quickly and no holds will be barred.

My advice, then: be prepared, be patient - there will be good moments and bad moments; stay loyal (regardless of the slings and arrows) and, last but not least, while remembering to communicate with the general public don't forget, in the heat of battle, to communicate with your own membership.

Liam Doran is general secretary of the Irish Nurses Organisation.