The inaugural meeting of a new secondary students' union takes place today amid rising tensions over the continuing teachers' dispute.
The Union of Secondary Students (USS) is hoping for a large turnout at the meeting in UCD and expects to elect a panel of officers. Schools in Leinster have been invited to send two representatives each.
The union is the first attempt in many years to organise a second-level student movement. Anger over the ASTI dispute has prompted pupils from Marian College and St Louis High School in Dublin to set up the union.
Ms Lyndsey O'Connell, one of the founders of USS, said many schools had contacted the union since it released its first press statement at the weekend.
She said students were angry the dispute had not yet been resolved. "The teachers should ballot their members as soon as possible on whatever comes out of the Labour Court. No one really knows what ordinary teachers are in favour of at this stage."
She added that many students had already decided to postpone taking the Leaving Certificate this year because they had fallen so far behind.
The USS has already drawn up a preliminary constitution and the meeting is expected to discuss this. Because the founders are Leaving Certificate students, most of the officers are expected to be fifth-years.
The founders hope the union will become a national organisation. Ms O'Connell said it had been contacted by student groups in Galway and elsewhere.
USS has been releasing information about its activities on its website, www. secondarystudents. cjb. net and e-mail address, secondarystudents @hotmail.com.
It is also being assisted by the Union of Students in Ireland (USI), which operates at third level.
USI gained a significant boost this week when the students' union at the Limerick Institute of Technology rejoined the organisation.
USI president Mr Julian de Spainn said this meant USI gained 6,000 extra members, bringing its membership to about 253,000.
USI's southern area officer, Mr Richard Hammond, said the decision was a major boost to USI in Limerick and surroundings counties. He said USI's campaign for better student grants would be significantly strengthened.