The exchanges between the Government and the teachers this week were some of the sharpest for many years. Bertie Ahern was accused of "inflaming" the industrial relations climate by simply writing an article in this newspaper. Then he said the ASTI's action could plunge the country back into the bad old days of industrial strife.
These angry barbs can't have made life easier for two of those most involved in the ongoing standoff - the lookalike Brothers Lennon. The Government Press Secretary, Joe Lennon, speaks on the issue for the Taoiseach, while his older brother Charlie Lennon leads the ASTI as general secretary.
Joe has been business-like when talking to reporters about the issue and has not let the family relationship interfere, despite some teasing from the hacks. Charlie, who regularly talks to his brother about more mundane matters, says family ties come second to getting his members their 30 per cent rise. "We all have a job to do and Joe realises that it's strictly business," he says. What they don't say, however, is that Joe obviously has a much better relationship with his bosses, the government and the Taoiseach in particular, than Charlie - who famously didn't get on with his last boss, Bernadine O'Sullivan.