Caught between the teachers' unions and the Department of Education, the lot of the principal can be a lonely one. The National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals, which begins its annual conference this week, is raising the headmaster's (and headmistress's) voice

There was time when the school principal was a teacher with some extra responsibilities. In a decade the role has changed dramatically. A series of legislative overhauls in the last five years has sent school bureaucracy into overdrive.

Principals now spend their time juggling external relationships; with the Department of Education, the teachers' unions, the Education Welfare Board, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, the National Education Psychological Services, the Joint Managerial Body, boards of management, parents' groups - you get the idea. There's not much time left for teaching. It's a wonder many principals can find time for contact with students at all.

When the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals (NAPD) was established in 1999, its founding members considered forming a principals' union. The role of the principal had moved so far from the role of the teacher, it was hard to see how the ASTI and TUI could really provide adequate representation.

"We decided that we might be better placed to voice our agenda as a professional organisation, and, as part of that, to lobby for better representation from the existing teachers' unions," says Derek West, president of the NAPD. The organisation has made great strides in this area - both unions now have sub-committees representing school management. But there is more to the NAPD than industrial relations. In fact, the association's 500 members are hoping to spend less time on union business this year.

"Supervision and substitution became a national issue and took up a lot of our time over the last couple of years," says West regretfully. "We walk a thin line between the Department of Education and the unions. The 'two Ss' hijacked the higher agenda of the NAPD for a long time. This year, we hope to get back to bigger issues."

The programme for this week's NAPD conference has a distinctly aspirational tone. Fed up of two years of industrial unrest over 'the two Ss' the NAPD is reaching for the loftier debates in education.

The main speaker at the Killarney conference will be Prof of History at NUI Galway Gearoid O'Tuathaig, who will examine issues around values in Irish education. He intends to hold the points race up for particular criticism. Anne Looney of the NCCA will look at a new vision for the second-level curriculum and, in an open forum, principals will be invited to discuss "The Pursuit of Excellence in our Schools".

But there are practical issues to deal with too. The Whole School Evaluation process is not exactly eating up the miles - only nine schools will be assessed between now and Christmas - but schools need to be prepared to come under the scrutiny of the inspector.

"The cigire is still regarded very negatively in schools," says West. "It won't be easy for the Department to change that perception. We have seen what has happened with the UK's education watchdog OFSTED - many teachers there have been undermined by the process rather than affirmed."

Eamon Stack, chief inspector of the Department of Education and Science will address next week's conference on the Whole School Evaluation process. West and the NAPD committee believe that the best they can do for their members in uncertain times is to keep the information flowing.

"The rules are changing fast. Ten years ago, if you needed a part- time teacher, you could interview someone quite casually, check your timetable and slot them in. It's not like that any more - there are new procedural paths for aspects of running a school. It's a cause of great anxiety to many principals. The best we can do to allay this anxiety is to disseminate as much information as we can."

The NAPD has enlisted the help of specialised legal teams to talk to principals about everything from implementing the Equality Act to interviewing staff.

The association is looking outward, too. "Our members have a store of expertise that is peculiar to their role," says West. "When we set up the NAPD we wanted to bring that expertise to the table. We have been successful in that regard - the NAPD now has an advisory role in many key groups, including the NCCA, the NEWB and the State Examinations Commission."

The group has also managed to attract state funding for its own senior-cycle arts programme. It's a modest bequest of €60,000 from the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, but West describes it as "hugely symbolic". "The Department of Education has also provided financial backing for the Arts in Our Schools programme. That in itself is significant. It's the first time that these two departments have come together to develop the arts in senior cycle. The kitty is small, but it's ours to distribute and we know which of our members need it most."

Where the NAPD has been most successful is in bringing schools of different advantage levels around the same table to discuss common concerns. The challenge for this year will be to create the same feelings of warmth between the association and the unions.

"We need to assuage the suspicions of the unions. We are not trying to muscle in on their industrial relations efforts. Seventy five per cent of our members are also members of the unions, so we have a shared interest. We are happy to explore our concerns through the structures that we have encouraged the unions to develop."

Meanwhile the day-to-day concerns of the principal can be quite mundane, especially in schools that are stuck for cash. Fundraising is a particular challenge, and one that Derek West is all too familiar with. Newpark Comprehensive in Blackrock, Co Dublin, where he is principal was one of the first and only schools to go into a commercial relationship with an advertising agency two years ago. The result was a school corridor billboard campaign for a soft drink and an unexpected measure of censorious press coverage.

"That situation arose out of frustration. We were promised a new school building years ago and we are still waiting. Parents' groups are busting their guts to raise money for basic refurbishment projects. This is happening in schools all over the country. Many principals in Ireland are working in very undignified conditions. The NAPD is trying to draw the focus of the profession back to 'instructional leadership'. Instead we are sidetracked, putting out buckets to catch drips."