An insider's guide to education.

• One of the true giants of the Irish education scene, Prof John Coolahan, of NUI Maynooth, has signalled his intention of leaving his post. Coolahan has made an immense contribution to Irish education over the years. He remains one of the few visionaries prepared to look beyond resource issues.

His departure as head of education will not be finalised, however, until he is replaced in his current post. Coolahan hopes to spend more time thinking and writing. He will be missed.

• There's a surprise. Despite what it sees as a campaign of "vilification and abuse", Hibernia College is actually winning the propaganda war about its controversial online teacher training course. All very unexpected given that the college has been forced to backtrack on its supposed links with some academics, such as Maurice Manning and others.

The college has been helped by by the less than convincing performances of its opponents on Marian Finucane's radio show. In the public mind those opposing the course are seen as Luddites from the old school, despite their real concerns about quality.

Hats off to the Irish National Teachers Organisation, which has played a blinder on this issue, straddling a clever line between support for online learning and demands for full quality assurance. Meanwhile, the Minister for Education, Noel Dempsey, has been keeping a low profile about the issue. The word on the grapevine is that Dempsey has little patience with those complaining about Hibernia. Some say he even views Hibernia as a healthy dose of competition for colleges that are too set in their ways.

• The decision to end the "pause" in research funding was a triumph for both the Conference of Heads of Irish Universities (CHIU) and the Higher Education Authority.

Both ran a very successful campaign against the cutbacks. . CHIU's decision to call a press conference, featuring three university presidents, last Monday proved a masterstroke. We now know that it helped tip the balance in favour of restoring the funding at the Cabinet table the next day.

The Minister for Education, Noel Dempsey, formally announced the good news on Friday, but only after the Tánaiste, Mary Harney, had flagged it on RTÉ's Morning Ireland. Relations between the Department of Education and the Department of Enterprise and Employment are said to have been unsettled (again) by what is seen by some in Marlborough Street as Enterprise's pre-emptive strike.

• The Charlie Lennon case rumbles on in the High Court. All sides are still denying it but the possibility of some settlement increases with every week that passes. Both sides have strengths and weaknesses in their cases. With the legal bills mounting, a settlement seems likely, once all sides of the story have reached the public domain. So far, only Lennon's affidavit has been reported in full.

• Over in UCD, preparations are continuing for a lavish bash to welcome new president Hugh Brady. The governing authority recently considered this issue. Despite the budgetary cutbacks, there was agreement that this should be a jolly, musical occasion. Brady takes over from Art Cosgrove in January.

• Parents will be relieved but the kidz are angry. The Slate, the world's most non-PC student publication, has just published its final edition. Expect the clever chaps behind it to become pillars of society.