An insiders guide to education

While the teachers' unions rolled out statements condemning the school league tables last week, most senior officials believe that the battle has been lost.

More information is on the way as Noel Dempsey prepares legislation in the area. As one commentator, RTÉ's Emma O'Kelly, noted last week the "genie is now out of the bottle".

The huge public response to the league tables, combined with the High Court's decision to open the way for the publication of inspection reports, has changed the face of Irish education. The old culture of secrecy is being demolished.

One of the interesting features of the league tables controversy was the failure of any second-level parents' group to welcome their publication - or the High Court ruling. Strange this, given the seemingly insatiable public appetite for this kind of information.

Does all of this beg questions, once again, about the level of representation given to second-level parents in Irish education?

The National Parents' Council - Primary, under the leadership of Fionnuala Kilfeather, is a vocal champion of parents' rights. It has welcomed the High Court ruling.

But second-level groups were notably quiet on these issues. The National Parents' Council - Post Primary represents various constituent bodies (Catholic schools, minority religion schools etc), but does it actually represent parents? Members of parents' associations in schools are not, for example, directly elected onto the NPC Post-Primary.

Barbara Johnston of the Catholic parents' group is a high-profile and very accomplished parents' representative, but few others in the parenting area enjoy the same high public profile.

Surely the parents of some 300,000 second-level pupils are entitled to a much more visible and pro-active representation?

Eilis O'Brien, the director of communications at DCU, is moving across the Liffey to take up a similar post at UCD. She will be a key member of the team of senior managers being assembled by the college's new boss, Hugh Brady.

O'Brien, who has worked with Bord Gais, The Food Safety Authority and Bank of Ireland, was always the front-runner for the €100,000 per year post. Her track record in helping to build the strong reputation of DCU is widely admired.

Some surprise in education circles that the lucrative PR contract for the institutes of technology has changed hands. It was widely believed that Adrian Langan was doing a really good job in raising the profile of the ITs. He certainly managed to make the hacks aware of the great work going on across the country in the institutes.

Langan, a former European of the year, is credited with helping to rescue the Nice Treaty after it was voted down in the first referendum.

The new director of the Teaching Council, which is designed to oversee standards in the profession, is likely to be Áine Lawlor, according to insiders.

A former primary teacher and school principal, she has also overseen the support service for the new primary curriculum. This provides in-service training on the much-admired new curriculum.