There was a palpable sense of empathy with the nurses' ongoing pay and conditions campaign at yesterday's ASTI conference, with several speakers expressing their support for the work that nurses do.
In a nod to their own relatively recent experience of industrial action, others such as outgoing president Michael Freeley were keen to stress the sense of "common purpose" which exists between the "caring professions".
"We must respect our caring professions - nurses and teachers - where we have an ethos of dedicated service," he said.
Another delegate put it rather more directly when speaking to The Irish Times. "If benchmarking is such a gravy train, why is nobody asking why the nurses are so unhappy with it?" she said.
Elsewhere at yesterday's conference there was the almost customary warm welcome for Minister for Education Mary Hanafin. With a clear eye to the imminent general election, she provided a veritable "roll call" of Government accomplishments to date in areas such as school-building, discipline and special education.
Her failure to expand further on Taoiseach Bertie Ahern's recent ardfheis commitment to provide more teachers in certain key subjects was met with thinly-veiled murmurs of discontent.
But, overall, there was a real sense of unity in the conference room. This was perhaps best expressed by defeated vice-presidential candidate Bernard Lynch. If he was disappointed at the outcome of the election, Mr Lynch certainly wasn't showing it. Addressing delegates, he magnanimously passed on his "unstinting and unswerving" congratulations to his opponent - now ASTI vice-president-elect - Pat Hurley.
With his brushed-back hair, flamboyant Mr Lynch made it clear that he intends to contest the election again, mischievously suggesting that delegates had clearly decided to "save him" for the union's centenary year.