Asti conference: Calls for unity could not hide the fact that key issues remain controversial, writes John Downes.
These were certainly changed times at the 83rd annual convention of the State's largest second-level union.
Arguably the most significant indicator of a trend which emerged at last year's conference was the warm reaction of delegates to Tuesday evening's speech by Minister for Education Mary Hanafin.
Far from the firebrand image associated with many of Asti's delegates, there was no resentment that their members could have been won over so easily by the teacher-friendly new Minister.
Some of those socialising in the Silver Springs hotel's bars in the wake of Ms Hanafin's speech believed she was benefiting from a combination of a "honeymoon" period, and the fact that she was Anyone But Dempsey (ABD).
Others said that following the traumas of recent years, teachers were just anxious to feel appreciated - or to "have their bellies tickled", as one put it.
Whether she receives as warm a reception next year remains to be seen - teachers also want to know if she can deliver when it comes to securing more funding from the Department of Finance.
This year's annual conference may have been marked by the absence of much of the rancour of previous years, but there are still clear differences among delegates.
These centre mainly around two issues: Asti's withdrawal from the Ictu, and whether it should sign up to phase two of the Sustaining Progress national pay deal.
It was during a debate on pension rights for young teachers that the fault lines on membership of Ictu became visible. Recent years have seen the collapse of Asti's policies on key issues such as parent-teacher meetings and pay scales, Bernard Lynch said.
Under the terms of Sustaining Progress, the union is unable to take industrial action on many issues of concern to it. If it does, it will simply go to arbitration and lose, he said.
Signing up to "the conspiracy of silence that is the Congress of Trade Unions" simply "ties our hands and removes our teeth", he added passionately.
John White saw things differently, however.
In his speech, he appealed for unity and asked the association to decide whether its exclusion from Ictu and from social partnership negotiations was in the best interest of its 17,000 members.
Members should decide whether Asti's leadership should be heard "where and when the real decisions are taken", Mr White said.
Of course the union needs to reserve the right to take industrial action if necessary, and it will, he said in response to Mr Lynch's comments.
But it must use a whole "panoply" of methods, not just the option of threatening industrial action.
Why is this all important? Well, if the teachers unions are to join together in an umbrella union - as mooted by the TUI and broadly supported by the others recently - Asti's non-membership of Ictu remains a major stumbling block. Similarly, were Asti not to sign up to phase two of Sustaining Progress, members may not be guaranteed full pay increases due to them under the agreement.
A national ballot of Asti's members on this issue has already been agreed by its national executive.
Few would deny the progress made by Asti in recent years. For many, it represents a welcome attempt to "come in from the cold".
But the result of another motion on whether to ballot all of its 17,000 members on rejoining Ictu - to be discussed in private on the last day of its conference later today - may reveal much about the true mood of the union's representatives.
The final decision on these issues looks set to be made by Asti's members, or the people they choose to represent them. It may also speak volumes about the union's future direction on the national stage.