On Morning Ireland yesterday, Barbara Johnston of the Catholic Secondary Schools Parents Association (CSPA) was asked if her call on parents to send their children to school was no more than a publicity gimmick. It was a legitimate question.
In truth, the CSPA was not in a position to mobilise a common front in which tens of thousands of parents would send their children to school.
There is loose talk of a parents' march on Tuesday week next, to coincide with a national protest by the Association of Secondary Teachers, Ireland (ASTI). But the CSPA lacks the political clout or the resources needed to run a powerful national campaign.
The CSPA call reflected parents' frustration about the ASTI dispute. The union's decision to refuse any exemption for Leaving Cert students was the final straw. On Monday, Ms Johnston said, she was contacted by scores of exasperated and angry parents.
CSPA is one of the five bodies that make up the National Parents Council, Post Primary (NPCPP). It also has representatives of minority religions, the Christian Brothers, vocational, community and comprehensive schools. The NPCPP is the recognised voice of secondary school parents - but in recent years it has been a very muted one.
The NPCPP is a part-time organisation which gets £92,000 a year from the Government. It has no full-time staff. Its main spokesman, Mr John Whyte, is a farmer from Co Tipperary. Its president, Ms Rose Tully, is a former teacher. In recent weeks its debate has been dominated by a dispute on who represents it at international meetings. Articles in Phoenix magazine and this newspaper which hinted at divisions in the ranks have also been high on the agenda. Remarkably, according to some senior figures, there has been no detailed policy discussion on the teachers' strike.
There was little surprise within the education system when the NPCPP advised parents to keep their children at home on the days when ASTI members withdraw from break-time supervision. Because it is so embedded in the system the parents' council rarely, if ever, rocks the boat.
It stood full square with the Department in opposing the publication of school league tables. It has had very little to say about teacher accountability, assessment methods and even about developing links between parents and teachers.
The parents' council is recognised by the Government as an education partner. It is represented on all the task forces and review bodies. Its relationship with the other education partners - the Department, the teacher unions, management bodies and other groups - is close and non-confrontational.
It was not always like this. Its former PRO, Mr Nick Killian, was outspoken. Now chairman of Co Meath Vocational Education Committee and an adviser to Minister of State Ms Mary Wallace, he also broke ranks last week by advising parents to send their children to school. His comments, like those of the CSPA, were intended to reflect the frustration so many parents were feeling.
The NPCPP has been slow to reflect this frustration. One senior member said: "The parents' council desperately needs to raise its game. There is no vision, no real political muscle and a very cosy relationship with the Department."
The organisation is also strangely low-profile and appears to be little known among parents. When one if its constituent groups polled the public about the NPCPP, many people thought it had to do with car-park management.
Many members of the parents' council would like to see it completely revamped along the lines of the National Parents Council (Primary), a professional lobby group with full-time support staff, direct links to parent associations and, not least, a formidable chief executive, Ms Fionnuala Kilfeather.
There is, as yet, little sign that the NPCPP will be transformed in this way. Until now, there has been no push for change. Not surprisingly, the other education partners have been happy with the status quo.
But the CSPA move could be an important straw in the wind. It underscores the potential lobbying power of parents. It might hasten reform of the NPCPP. It could even represent a defining moment when secondary school parents came in from the margins in the Irish education system.