'We will have difficulties attracting people to the profession' - teacher

Keith Howley and Claire MacLoughlin on the picket line at Pobalscoil Neasáin, Baldoyle in Dublin. Photo: Mark Condren

A Dublin teacher has said she and other better paid teachers will continue to picket, despite losing pay, as the profession needs an urgent overhaul.

She and other colleagues in Pobalscoil Neasáin in Baldoyle, Dublin, who are on the higher pay scale warned that a brain drain would rob the country of its highly trained teachers, and it would struggle to lure them back.

No resolution has been reached in the ongoing disputes which will see teachers strike for six more days over pay for younger colleagues.

However, talks this week are likely to focus on a second dispute involving substitution and supervision duties. A withdrawal of ASTI teachers from these duties will see schools close indefinitely.

Read more: Disputes and pay deals: it's simply a case of 'déjà vu'

Clare MacLoughlin, a resource teacher at Pobalscoil Neasáin, said foreign recruiters were coming to Ireland to lure teachers abroad "earlier and earlier" because they "smell blood" in the profession.

"We will have difficulties attracting people to the profession and the number of men in the profession will drop even further. As it is they seem to be the ones going to teach in other countries," she said.

"The gender balance, which is already laughable, will get even worse," she said.

With several days of strikes on the cards, the experienced teacher said she and others would stand resolute until a solution was reached.

"We are fighting for the rights of our colleagues and for the rights of the students in our care to have the best that's due to them," she said.

"It has to be noted that the Government knew this was coming... they have sat on their hands and turned this into a battle in the media, trying to make us look like the bad guys," she said.

"Because maybe people have had bad experiences down through the years with teachers, it is easy to vilify us but c'est la vie... If you're going to strike you are going to go out with intent and I have every intention of following through on my union's mandate.

"These people that I work with, I'm telling you they are worth fighting for," she added.

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