Former minister for education and science Noel Dempsey reflects on the highs and lows of the conference season and argues for a complete overhaul of the format

I have to admit it. Even as a teacher I never had much time for the annual conferences. I always felt that the emphasis at them was too focused on trade union matters and not enough on education. As a result, I felt that the teaching profession got plenty of publicity but very little good PR.

The antics at some of the teacher conferences immediately prior to my appointment as minister for education and science did not enhance their image for me. Nevertheless, following my appointment, I felt that it was an important courtesy to the unions, and more particularly to the teaching profession, that I should attend.

However, I was determined to try to move away from the traditional mode - the union leadership telling us all that's wrong while the minister of the day tells them what a great job he's doing and proves this then by announcing some "goodies".

My first outing was in 2003 to Bundoran, Co Donegal, for the INTO conference. Arriving the evening before allowed me to meet delegates individually - an enjoyable and engaging experience. My request for a question-and-answer session at the end of the formal session I was attending met with limited success.

It was clear at the Asti conference that all was still far from well in that organisation. The president's address was greeted with 50 per cent applause and 50 per cent silence. A former president of the association read a newspaper during the address. Despite offering to take questions this was ruled out of time. Again, I spent some time afterwards with delegates.

On to Ennis, Co Clare, and the TUI. My resolve to lift the focus of the unions and conferences to look to the future took a hammering here. It was clear that this was an occasion where the president had a script to deliver and irrespective of anything anybody said he was going to deliver it. Talk about a dialogue of the deaf. The formal sessions of the conferences could be summarised as "some engagement" (INTO) and absolutely no engagement. Outside of these sessions, the discussion and debate was lively and interesting.

Later in 2003, while in the US, I was asked to address the graduates of the John F Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. The topic was education, Ireland, and the economy. My approach was to make a short opening statement and let the graduates take it from there with a question-and-answer session. The address took about five minutes, but the debate itself over-ran and lasted about two hours. At the end, a team of the graduates approached me and asked if I could return that evening for a longer debate with a group of about 300 graduates. Regrettably, I couldn't return, but the event strengthened my view on the benefit of a different form of engagement.

The experience of the 2003 conferences, and that at Harvard, influenced my approach to the 2004 conferences. I asked the three unions to consider a different format for my appearance. In some quarters, that was portrayed as the minister trying to hijack the conferences. For me, it was nothing of the sort. It was a genuine attempt to get some reasoned debate on key issues instead of just delivering prepared scripts which generate more heat than light. In any event, a compromise was agreed and there was some debate at the three conferences.

I have always credited the INTO as being the union that showed the greatest willingness to engage in a different format and I see that, for 2005, the union is again to the forefront in recognising a need to change its conference. While the Asti conference of 2003 stood out for the wrong reasons, it was good to see a more united front in Killarney in 2004. However, for me, the TUI conference of 2004 in Galway was the most interesting and productive.

But what about the tie minister?

Well, having attended the INTO conference in Tralee, Co Kerry, it was on to the Asti conference in Killarney, Co Kerry, on the same afternoon. That night, a call came through from a journalist wanting to know why I had changed ties between the INTO and Asti conferences. Just goes to show that you can't beat an eagle-eyed, intrepid, journalist for bringing the change debate to a new level!

Noel Dempsey is currently the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources