MINISTER FOR Education Batt O’Keeffe has expressed his unease about “personalised attacks” on him at the recent annual conference of the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI).
The Minister said yesterday it might be useful for all teacher unions to reflect on their behaviour towards him – an invited guest – during the Easter conferences.
Mr O’Keeffe was subjected to a frosty reception during the conferences. This included walk-outs from delegates at the TUI, INTO and ASTI conferences. On each occasion, his address was met with silence from delegates protesting about education cuts.
The Minister said he “expected a rough ride’’ and had no problem with this kind of “argy bargy”.
But he told The Irish Timesyesterday he took exception to the personalised nature of criticism from some TUI delegates, where he was subjected to constant barracking and hostile questioning after his address. "The TUI was very personal. It crossed a line that is not generally crossed," he said.
He would like to think that when teacher unions reflect on the conference season they – and especially the TUI – would ask whether they demonstrated a proper sense of decorum of the kind they expect from their own pupils, he added.
TUI general secretary Peter MacMenamin stressed that any criticism of the Minister was not personal but directed to him as a Government representative. He said the reception for the Minister may have been more animated at the TUI because many members worked with disadvantaged pupils in schools where the impact of Budget cuts was keenly felt.
