Analysis: Education Editor, Seán Flynn, traces the roots of the decision by the ASTI general secretary to issue High Court proceedings yesterday
The move by ASTI general secretary, Mr Charlie Lennon, to go to the High Court is the culmination of a bitter and highly personalised three year conflict.
"I have never worked in such a poisonous, venomous atmosphere," said one ASTI source.
Few working at the union's headquarters near Christchurch in Dublin would take issue with this view.
The restraining order won by Mr Lennon against officers of his own union yesterday is but one of the difficulties it faces.
Over 20 head office administrative and clerical staff are also pursuing a Labour Court action against the union.
The workers claim they have been subjected to intolerable levels of stress because of the atmosphere in the office.
Mr Lennon may be popular with head office staff but he has few friends among the group which drove the union's campaign for a 30 per cent pay rise over the last three years.
All the key elected officers of the union are members of this group. They include the president, Mr Pat Cahill; the vice-president, Ms Susie Hall; and the treasurer, Ms Patricia Wroe.
Mr Lennon was appalled by the union's decision to leave the ICTU and to pursue an aggressive campaign of strike action which saw schools closed for several days two years ago.
The anti-Lennon group, however, see him as a former a big wheel in the ICTU who had lost touch with members.
They say they were mandated by members to pursue radical action - and that Mr Lennon should have rowed in.
Mr Lennon, however, believes that his advice - that the whole pay campaign would end in inevitable defeat - should have been heeded.
The Lennon camp say ordinary ASTI members never supported militant tactics and cite how the grassroots defied the executive by backing both benchmarking and a new supervision scheme.
Mr Lennon's supporters feel that he was targeted as the "fall -guy", after the pay campaign ran into the ground, a charge vehemently denied by his opponents.
Last April, the ASTI conference decided by a narrow majority to hold a meeting to assess his performance. This meeting was due to take place on Saturday week but yesterday's court order means it is unlikely to take place in the near future.
Mr Lennon's expenses and those of all head office staff have also been under investigation by the ASTI treasurer, Ms Patricia Wroe.
As a result of this investigation a voluntary payment of over €100,000 was made by the ASTI to the Revenue.
Payment of expenses to head office staff have also been on hold for several months as a dispute about the type of form used to claim them rumbles on.
The Lennon supporters and head office staff say the investigation has exposed sloppy procedures and no more.
But the Wroe camp says she is entitled to investigate these issues fully.
In his statement yesterday Mr Lennon accused Mr Cahill and Ms Hall - who are conducting the expenses investigation - of having shown "prejudice against me in the past".
Last night Mr Cahill vehemently denied the charge. He said: "A complaint was made and I had a responsibility to investigate it fully. I am not biased in any way. I am independent."