Talks in the Labour Court on the teachers' pay dispute have been adjourned until tomorrow morning. Labour Court chairman Mr Finbar Flood and ASTI General Secretary, Mr Charlie Lennon, said "progress has been made" at the talks but declined to comment further.
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The ASTI General Secretary, Mr Charlie Lennon
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Mr Flood said that he hoped to have put forward proposals to both sides tomorrow.
Earlier today, the ASTI suspended its strike action pending the outcome of further talks in the Labour Court.
In a statement, the general secretary of the union, Mr Charlie Lennon, said the Standing Committee decided to defer the action as a "gesture of goodwill".
Mr Lennon said the union would return to the Labour Court this afternoon to complete discussions on a set of proposals. He said the intention was to present the outcome of the talks to the union’s Executive Committee on Thursday.
He said depending on whether that outcome was sufficient enough to put to members there would be a ballot. But Mr Lennon added that he believed there may be a ballot to reinforce the position of members on the campaign.
Speaking on RTE’s News at One, he said any ballot would be held next week, and in the meantime teachers would be returning to their classrooms tomorrow and Thursday.
Yesterday the Labour Court said it was "appalled" by the decision of secondary teachers to go ahead with their strike action, despite "continuing court discussions".
A meeting of the ASTI’s standing committee was held this morning. Mr Lennon said the resolve teachers remained strong but there was some concern of the implications of recent action taken by students.
Twenty students were arrested yesterday schoolchildren took to the streets around the State, the second day of such protests.
Half the arrests took place outside the Daíl. A Garda spokesman said two garda vehicles were damaged in disturbances in Blanchardstown, Dublin, while another car was damaged in Dundalk, Co Louth.