Ms Moira Leydon:

In terms of collaboration, one of the powerful things about trade unions, and particularly teaching unions in the Irish context, is that we have significant political capital. We do not have that just because of the power that trade unions have per sebecause of the workers. Really, the political capital that teacher unions have in this country is due to the fact that there is extensive and sustained collaboration with other agencies, groups and communities that prioritise the welfare and well-being of children. These include the Children’s Rights Alliance, Barnardos, etc.

We collaborate practically. For example, coming up to budget day we will plagiarise each other’s statistics. We will say for example that Barnados have made a case back to school costs. They are a particularly vocal voice, etc. We need to be more proactive in reaching out to the groups who have been traditionally marginalised, including the Traveller community and the Roma community. We are doing extremely well in the Irish context, as is demonstrated by national and international evidence about the achievement levels of migrant students, particularly students who were not born in Ireland. We also need to start talking to wider communities, because our schools are incredibly diverse. Our society is diverse. Diversity is part of being a democratic State. We are always doing this in our daily work, but there is always room for that wider engagement, particularly with the Senator’s own Traveller community.

Last Friday morning I attended for a short period, although unfortunately I could not attend all of it, the Children’s Rights Alliance had particular engagement-----