Twenty-two schools throughout Donegal, Sligo and Leitrim are closed today because of the ASTI dispute with the Department of Education over equal pay for teachers and other issues.
The ASTI has 751 member teachers in those schools.
In Sligo, there are nine such schools with 281 members.
In Donegal, there are seven schools with 347 ASTI members and six schools in Leitrim with 123 ASTI members.
At least 6 more strike days are in the pipeline, and it’s also unclear whether hundreds of schools will be able to re-open after next week’s mid-term break, because of problems with supervision and substitution.
President of the ASTI Ed Byrne had this message this morning for parents who might be fed up with what’s going on:
James Hardiman, deputy principal, St Mary’s College, Ballisodare, Co Sligo, was among those on the picket line this morning.
He told our reporter Claire Mulcahy why he was protesting:
