The name Laurence Begley will not be remembered because of his longstanding commitment to education in this State. Or because he became the principal of Mountcollins National School on the Limerick-Kerry border.
He will be remembered because 15 months ago he lost his temper and struck one of his 12-year-old pupils on the back of the head. This week he was convicted of assault, and once again school discipline has come under the microscope.
It is not a pretty sight. Worryingly, there appears to be a sense among teachers of "There but for the grace of God go I" about this week's court decision.
"Some teachers may be reflecting along those lines because they may well recognise the issues involved," said Mr Maurice Kearney, a principal at Ratoath National School in Co Meath.
He said he had a great deal of sympathy for all parties involved, and empathy with Mr Begley because of the pressurised situation in which teachers operate today.
The legislation that made Mr Begley's conviction possible was the 1996 Offences against the Person (Non-Fatal) Act, which made corporal punishment, banned in schools since 1982, illegal.
The National Parents' Council welcomed this week's decision, saying it sent out a strong signal about how we expect our children to be treated.
The wider issue of discipline in schools appears to require further debate. One of the problems, a teacher in a rural school said, was the changing profile of students.
"It has changed dramatically in recent years," he said. "There are far more children coming from backgrounds where there is a dysfunctional family unit, where the value system is weaker, and their behaviour can have a negative impact in the classroom."
It was a vicious circle because, while society had changed, teachers were not receiving the training to keep up with the behavioural effects of those changes on children.
The situation has led to a deep sense of anger among educators.
The INTO leader, Senator Joe O'Toole, said the majority of schools had a code of discipline and in most cases it worked very well. If, however, a minority of parents did not co-operate, it fell down.
The system also fails, he said, because of an insufficiency of educational psychiatrists. There are currently 29 when, according to Mr O'Toole, 100 are needed.
The INTO is seeking legislation to oblige parents to come to the school to discuss their child if requested. They should also be required to have the child assessed and to attend counselling with the child if deemed necessary, said Mr O'Toole.
At the opposite perspective, there are those who see discipline as a dirty, or at any rate slightly tarnished, word. Developing harsher codes of discipline is not the way to go, according to Ms Fionnuala Kilfeather, of the parents' council. Rather we should be developing "a code of behaviour that examines adult behaviour as well as children's."
She said cases such as the recent one should never have to go to court but should be settled at a lower level.
A Department of Education spokesman said the psychological service had been extended to meet demand, and further expansion was planned. The Minister, Mr Martin, is planning to introduce legislation to establish a teachers' council to deal with disciplinary matters in relation to teachers.
While few will argue in favour of corporal punishment in schools today, as time goes by acceptable methods of discipline are being undermined.
Detention has been construed in some cases as an infringement of human rights, and making a child stand outside a classroom door is no longer practical for security reasons.
Of even more concern is the common practice of making a child sit alone if he or she is disruptive. This has led in recent years to a teacher being reprimanded on the grounds that it amounted to social deprivation, a source in education said.
Meanwhile, a father of eight children, a 12-year-old boy and both their families have become the first, but probably not the last, casualties of a disciplinary climate which those in the front line agree requires expert and urgent appraisal.
