ASTI Conference - Commentary: It is a very different kind fo ASTI conference, After the pay dispute, the union is on much more reflective mode, writes Sean Flynn, Education Editor.
Attending the ASTI conference this year is a little like turning up at Croke Park 10 minutes after the big match has ended. You can still here the faint echo of battle - but the game, the battle, is long since over.
The union's three-year war of attrition over pay has ended and ASTI is now in a more reflective mode. Every delegate I met along the hotel corridors talked about regrouping and changing. A long and bitter chapter in the union's history is at an end.
One senior figure in the union said he was now exasperated and thinking of leaving the union after two decades and more at the coalface.
"ASTI is a bit like a dysfunctional family; we know we have huge problems but we cannot address them until we publicly acknowledge them."
In fairness, many delegates are doing this. Whereas in the recent past, reporters - particularly anyone who questioned the union's strategy - were in near-mortal danger, yesterday delegates were inviting debate and discussion on where the union went from here.
There is also a great deal of courtesy and plain good humour on display at this year's conference. The Minister for Education, Mr Dempsey, was received in a courteous and friendly way.
In truth, he gave no quarter to ASTI or any of the other teaching unions in his address last night.
In a challenging address, he said the education debate was too often about resources and not about agreeing a vision.
"Too often the debate is about inputs and not enough about outcomes. And too often the debate is about limited self-interest rather than the big picture."
Mr Dempsey said the pace of change in education could be excessively slow. He pushed buttons which were bound to unsettle his audience, talking about measurement and evaluation. These should not threaten people, as they could be a positive strength. He also spoke about the much greater involvement of parents and the wider community in the education debate.
In the coming months, the Minister will establish a new national consultative process on education.
His starting point could not be more challenging for the teacher unions; it is that the education debate has for too long been dominated by the usual suspects, the Department and the teaching unions.
His vision is to make the system more responsive to what he calls education consumers - especially parents. Despite the uncompromising nature of his address, Mr Dempsey got a polite response from delegates.
Despite their differences, there is a sense among delegates that the Minister - a former ASTI member when he was a guidance counsellor in Co Meath two decades ago - is one of their own.
One ASTI member said: " I am worried about some of the Dempsey agenda. It is all about the education consumer and that stuff. It does not take into account the sensitivities of teachers.
"But I will give him this - he is hugely engaged in the education debate and he wants to achieve real change. He is a breath of fresh air."
That reaction was fairly typical, but Mr Dempsey faces a difficult battle. After the bruising pay battle, there is clearly something of a crisis of morale within the profession. Many teachers feel they are under-appreciated and over-burdened.
At the ASTI conference last night there was a broad welcome for the Dempsey vision, but there was also concern about his timing.
One delegate said that union members were exhausted and tired after the pay battle. "Noel Dempsey is hurrying to the next agenda, but most of us are not in the mood for more change."