Allegations by a parents' representative that she was verbally attacked and intimidated by senior ASTI members at least six times at their annual convention in Galway are to be investigated by the union.
The president of the ASTI, Mr Don McCluskey, said if the allegations were true, he greatly regretted them. "It's not in the spirit of the ASTI to treat people like this," he said. The National Parents Council (Post Primary) claimed its president, Ms Marie Danaswamy, had been "on the receiving end of six attacks" by various senior ASTI members since her arrival at the conference on Tuesday night.
The council's public relations officer, Mr Pat Herlihy, said Ms Danaswamy had been singled out for attack. He said she was hurt and shaken by the "personalised" comments directed at her. In one incident she was allegedly "berated publicly" at the ASTI banquet on Tuesday night.
A member of the executive had called her an "absolute disgrace", and others applauded him. In another incident, a male teacher "in vile mood" had slammed the door on the council's director, Ms Veronica Cluxton Curley, and pushed her out of the way in his attempt to get at Ms Danaswamy, Mr Herlihy said.
He said the ASTI president had been extremely negative towards parents in his address to delegates, and far from helping relations between them, had caused further damage. His comments would put relations between the union and parents "back 50 years or more". Mr McCluskey had called on parents to be accountable when their children disrupted classes. "The president of the ASTI spoke of the unruly behaviour of some students during the recent ASTI industrial action as unacceptable, yet minutes later we see at first hand the unruly and disorderly behaviour of teachers. If our students behaved in this fashion they would have been instantly suspended," Mr Herlihy said.
"If you are invited to a function like this you don't expect to walk in the door and be immediately attacked or abused. Anywhere there is bullying, any where there is intimidation and anywhere there is this kind of harassment I think we have a duty as parents and as parents' representatives to stand up and say enough is enough. We are not going to accept this."
He added: "I do understand that the executive of ASTI can't police all their members and there will be people who will let their feelings get the better of them. However, I'd accept maybe that happening on one occasion but not on six occasions."
Ms Danaswamy said she did not expect to be welcomed with open arms at the convention but she expected to be treated with respect. "We are not criticising the teachers in so far as we recognise they need an extra pay claim but they can't expect us, when we see it interfering with our children, to just watch and do nothing."
She left the conference early. "I feel that there's no point in staying on any longer."
It also emerged yesterday that the public relations officer of the Congress of Catholic Secondary Schools Parents Association, Ms Barbara Johnston, was not invited to the convention.