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4 more off-the-beaten-track places you really should visit

As part of the Hidden Ireland series, Neil Jackman suggests four more heritage sites to visit in Offaly, Roscommon, Meath and Tipperary.

Clara Bog Visitor Centre, Co. Offaly

I’M NOT JUST a history and archaeology nerd, I like a bit of natural history too! I paid a visit to Clara Bog Visitor Centre in Co. Offaly this week and had a great day. The modern and accessible Visitor Centre gives great insights into the wonderful and precious landscape of Ireland’s peat bogs, and you can encounter the fascinating fauna and flora (including a very innocent looking but carnivorous plant). After you have visited the centre, enjoy a walk along the boardwalks that lead you safely through this remarkable landscape.

It’s a great time of year to visit as well, with lots of newly hatched tadpoles, and some of the plants are beginning to flower. I highly recommend a visit to bring the kids to see some of the diverse wealth of Ireland’s natural heritage. Entry to the boardwalks and visitor centre is completely free of charge. You can find more details on their website at http://www.npws.ie/naturereserves/offaly/clarabognaturereserve/

Rathcroghan, Co. Roscommon

The incredible complex of archaeological monuments that fill the landscape around Tulsk in County Roscommon needs a whole lifetime to explore. Rathcroghan is the most famous of the monuments, and is one of the key Royal sites of Pre-Christian Ireland along with The Hill of Tara in Meath, Dún Ailinne in Kildare, The Rock of Cashel in Tipperary and Emain Macha (Navan Fort) in Armagh. Rathcroghan was the ancient capital of Connacht, from where the last High Kings of Ireland, the O’Connors, ruled.

The site is possibly most famous for its appearance in the great Irish epic the Táin Bó Cuailgne (the Cattle Raid of Cooley). It was at Rathcroghan that pillow talk between Queen Medb and her consort Ailill turned competitive as they quarreled over their respective fortunes, with Ailill playing his trump card of his magnificent white bull, only matched by the Brown Bull of Cooley in Co. Louth, that Medb immediately determined that she must steal, leading to all manner of hassle.

The mound itself is located in the centre of the archaeological landscape, and when you ascend the mound you are rewarded with incredible views of the surrounding countryside. The site has never been excavated by archaeologists, but an exciting series of non-intrusive investigations using geophysics have been conducted by archaeologists, the results of which are highlighted and clearly explained in the Visitor Centre. Another one of the famous monuments located close to the main mound of Rathcroghan is Owenygat – The Cave of the Cats. This cave is central to many legends and folklore. It was thought to be the entrance to the Otherworld, and home to early Irish race that became Fairies, the Tuatha Dé Dannan. It was also believed to be a place guarded by malevolent creatures that emerge from the cave at Samhain, and ravage the land of Ireland, and home to the Morrígan, the powerful goddess of battle, strife and fertility.

This is a fascinating landscape deeply steeped in folklore, legend, history and archaeology. Though you can access the main site for free, I strongly recommend you pay a visit first to the excellent visitor centre. This will give you a real grasp of the complexity of the archaeology as well as the stories and legends that make this such a special place. You can also arrange tours of Rathcroghan and its associated sites through the Rathcroghan Visitor Centre at Cruachan Ai in Tulsk Village where the staff are more than happy to take you on a journey through this ancient landscape. The centre is open all year round.

Tours of the centre cost €5 per person for adult (discount for children/students and pensioners) and visits to the sites can be arranged by appointment. Site tours cost €20 which covers 1 to 4 people with an additional charge of €5 for each subsequent person. For special events or to arrange a tour see www.rathcroghan.ie or contact 071 9639268

Loughcrew, Co. Meath

Cairn T is perhaps the best known of the extensive series of passage tombs making up the archaeological landscape of Slieve na Calliagh. The cairn dates to around 3000 BC, and is 35m in diameter and 5m high, and has a number of fine examples of megalithic art. Cairn T is surrounded by six smaller satellite tombs, some of which are no longer covered by a cairn or mound and are now accessible.

The Hag’s Chair is one of the kerbstones that surround Cairn T, it displays megalithic art but unfortunately the carvings are very difficult to make out today. More clear is the cross inscribed on the seat, it possibly represents the use of the stone as a Mass Rock during penal times. It was possibly also used as a ceremonial or inauguration chair during the early medieval period.

The name Slieve na Calliagh is thought to derive from The Hill of the Witch. Folklore has it that the monuments at Loughcrew were formed when a witch called An Cailleach Bhéara, was challenged to drop an apron full of stones on each of the three Loughcrew peaks, if she succeeded she would be proclaimed the ruler of all Ireland. She was successful on the first two peaks, but missed the third and fell to her death.

Loughcrew is one of the true hidden gems of Ireland, a fantastically atmospheric place that you will quite often have to yourself. People still gather at Loughcrew at the Vernal Equinox (usually around the end of March) and Autumnal Equinox to watch sunlight enter the chamber and illuminate the interior of the tomb. Unlike the superb but far more frequented Newgrange, Loughcrew can perhaps offer a more intimate experience with Ireland’s Neolithic past. Loughcrew is located approximately 3km east of Oldcastle in Co. Meath, it is free to enter, and great guided tours are available (also free of charge) from the Office of Public Works from the 30th May – 28th August, see http://www.heritageireland.ie/en/midlandseastcoast/Loughcrew/ for more details.

Athassel Abbey, Co. Tipperary

Athassel Abbey is located close to the village of Golden in Co. Tipperary and is a fantastic example of an Augustianian Priory. Indeed Athassel Abbey was once an important urban centre in medieval Ireland. It is said that there were over two thousand people living in a settlement around the Abbey, but today the ruins of the abbey slumber beside the meandering River Suir, with no visible traces of the vibrant settlement that once surrounded it.

This Abbey site was founded in around 1200 AD by a prominent Anglo Norman named William Fitz Aldhelm de Burgo. He was granted extensive land in Tipperary and decided to give some of that land to the church to create a bastion of Anglo Norman worship in the Irish Landscape. It is likely that William de Burgo himself lived quite close to the site where the abbey was to be built, the remains of a motte stand across the river from the abbey. Mottes were built by Norman lords in the years after their arrival in Ireland as defensive sites to gain control of strategic areas. Today the motte at Athassel is very overgrown but it is an interesting indication of strong Anglo Norman presence in the area.

Augustinian Canons came to Athassel on de Burgos request and initially built half a church, followed by a cloister area, then a chapter house and dormitories with a refectory or eating area before turning their attention back to the church to complete the nave or congregation area. The priory was dedicated to St. Edmund. The support from a wealthy family like the de Burgos and the location of the Abbey on the banks of the navigable River Suir insured that it would become a prominent economic hub and settlement quickly grew around it. The burgeoning town was granted the valuable privilege of the right to hold an annual fair for seven days that attracted people from surrounding towns and villages from miles around. To put this in context, at this time Dublin was granted an annual fair of fifteen days.

By the 1480s, the abbey was in decline. It had suffered during the fourteenth century from raids, burnings and plague, and by the fifteenth century Ireland was becoming more lawless as the power of the Anglo Norman lords was dwindling. In 1512, the strong connection with the de Burgo family was broken, and another family took precedence, the Butlers of Ormond. The Butler family had landholdings in south Tipperary and Kilkenny. The break with the Burkes was the beginning of the end for Athassel as shortly after King Henry VIII ordered the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Athassel was spared until 1552, when King Edward VI ordered the abandonment of Athassel. It was burned one final time in 1581 by a member of the Fitzgerald family who destroyed the monastery in Athassel in a search of ‘spoils and booty’.

Athassel stands today as a testament to the different fortunes of the Anglo Norman families who came to Ireland in search of opportunities and land. One of the largest medieval priories to be found in Ireland, Athassel is incredibly well preserved and highlights the strong connections between the Norman Lords and the church and the value of strong patronage. The complex stretches across four acres of land and features one of Ireland’s only medieval gate and bridge complexes, a truly wonderful site to explore.

To get to Athassel, make your way to the village of Golden, Co. Tipperary via the N74. Drive through the village, over the bridge, directly after the bridge turn left (the site is signposted) and continue down this small lane. The site will be located on your left. There is limited parking. The site is located both close to the historical towns of Cashel and Cahir so why not combine a visit to Athassel with a visit to the wonderful Rock of Cashel or the magnificently well preserved Cahir Castle.

  • You can discover more great sites off the beaten track on Neil’s blog, Time Travel Ireland. Neil has also produced an acclaimed series of audioguides to Ireland’s heritage sites. They are packed with original music and sound effects and a really fun and immersive way of exploring Ireland’s past. They cost just €1.99 each (or free in the case of The Rock of Dunamase) and are available from abartaheritage.ie

Interior photograph of Oweynagat © Richard Mills. All other photographs © Neil Jackman /abartaheritage.ie
All recommendations are from the personal experience of Neil, who has received no payment from any site owner or community.

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55 Comments
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    Mute ha?
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    May 21st 2013, 9:48 PM

    Who is on €65,000 a year in teaching? are these principals? please, I’m not been sarcastic, I’m just curious and I think teachers themselves need to clear this one up as I doubt many of you are on this salary.

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    Mute jeremy34
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    May 21st 2013, 10:00 PM

    There are many people in the public service on €65,000 presumably helped by increments. These proposals are just simply unaffordable. The pension contributions change is particularly worrying considering the fact the unfunded pension liabilities could remain in the red.

    78
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    Mute Mark Finlay
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    May 21st 2013, 10:02 PM

    Only principals or assistant principals who have been working for a number of years and in a large school could be on over €65k. If you want to see teachers payscales then check the unions webpages. Its fairly transparent.

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    Mute SPP
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    May 21st 2013, 10:02 PM

    Yes many principals could be on 65k if they have many years experience behind them and are principal of a fairly big school.

    76
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    Mute ha?
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    May 21st 2013, 10:13 PM

    @mark, that’s what I thought but in most articles on teachers pay, this figure is always quoted and not the actual pay scales of teachers.

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    Mute Paul Knox
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    May 21st 2013, 10:17 PM

    They probably wouldn’t be able to be on here to clear that up, cos they, “ya know” are busy on holidays. Oh wait, or they are worth that money for the responsibility and tremendous amount of work that relies on their experience and knowledge. Lets just imagine they do a tremendous amount of work in regards to day to day running of a school. Like organising personnel, hiring, monitoring and assisting them right down to buying the tea and coffee. They are ensuring the school meets it child protection requirements and are constantly dealing with sensitive issues of same ensuring childrens health and welling being are safefuarded. They are promoting curricular enrichment in school, ensuring teachers have the resources and opportunities needed, managing the budget of the school, from buying pencils to ensuring the school has enough money to be heated in winter. They probably deal with 101 meetings everyday with agencies and organisations who have dealings with schools as well as meetings with pupils and parents constantly about behaviour, achievement and you name it. I hope this clears that up. I pay taxes too and I’d rather a broke country then one where I couldn’t send my kids to school because the resources were not there to keep them safe, educate them and was inclusive of all.

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    Mute Dwayne Jordan
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    May 21st 2013, 10:25 PM

    More blah blah blah

    26
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    Mute Paul Knox
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    May 21st 2013, 10:42 PM

    Is that the first line of a nursery rhyme? I think I know it

    60
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    Mute Jed I. Knight
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    May 21st 2013, 11:05 PM

    This seems to benefit the few on high salaries, the over €65k types, at the expense of the majority, those on less than €30k. Typical.

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    Mute ha?
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    May 21st 2013, 11:10 PM

    @Paul, thanks for all that but Mark and SPP managed to put me straight without the sarcasm and toy throwing.

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    Mute Paul Knox
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    May 21st 2013, 11:15 PM

    True I apologise, I am learning though, what works on this, and what doesn’t…

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    Mute ha?
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    May 21st 2013, 11:17 PM

    No worries. it’s probably a knee jerk reaction as PS gets a rough time on Journal sometimes and attack dog Jeremy is out of his kennel again! :)

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    Mute John Fox
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    May 22nd 2013, 2:24 AM

    Jeremy, do you actually have a job? You seem to spend hours upon hours populating and thus commenting on all journal articles related to the public service. You obviously work in the private sector and therefore I would like to know what handy job you are remunerated for as you spend the vast majority of your working week on thejournal.ie dictating as to how pic liv servants should be paid. But, please, if you do work, continue to pay your taxes so I can continue to earn the lofty salaries as a State employee. Oíche mhaith.

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    Mute Mary Cleary
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    May 22nd 2013, 10:13 AM

    Those at the top of the scale with a post holders allowance would be on that salary. They needn’t necessarily be principals. Teachers salaries increased substantially between 2002 and 2008. This included benchmarking and cost of living increases plus increments which continue to be paid. That’s for the primary sector. Not aware of second level rates.

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    Mute Dennis Laffey
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    May 22nd 2013, 11:56 AM

    That salary doesn’t take into account the unbelievably great pension scheme though (or does it?). That pension is worth a hell of a lot of money, and should be included in any talk about remuneration for public sector workers. You honestly would never be able to buy a pension like that on the open market nowadays.

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    Mute Gar.
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    May 22nd 2013, 5:02 PM

    All teachers with about 15/16 years experience. Honours degree and honours H-Dip and a b post would be on 65k.

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    Mute Dennis Laffey
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    May 22nd 2013, 5:34 PM

    Just out of interest what are the salary entitlements of teachers? Is this pension accounted for in pay talks? It is remuneration after all.

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    Mute Paul O'reilly
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    May 21st 2013, 9:56 PM

    I don’t suppose anyone on the government side thought about giving Google, Facebook, Apple, Intel, etc, etc. a ring and asking them to pay their fair share of taxes and so fund decent public services from which everyone benefits.

    154
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    Mute jeremy34
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    May 21st 2013, 9:50 PM

    “As with other sectors, workers on over €65,000 a year will face two six-month delays in the payments of their next two increments”

    Unbelievable… This country can’t afford increments let alone restore them in six months. Who is representing the people paying for all this? This country is broke. These changes advocated by LRC are completely unfair towards Taxpayers financing all this.

    97
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    Mute ha?
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    May 21st 2013, 9:54 PM

    Jeremy, is there any chance you could stop jumping in on a any article regarding PS pay? some of us actually want to have a proper non judgemental discussion without your attack dog tactics.

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    Mute Realiity Offends
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    May 21st 2013, 10:54 PM

    Public sector workers are keeping us afloat Jeremy and they pay a disproportionate amount of the taxes taken every year in the People’s Republic of Ireland…

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    Mute Peter O'neill
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    May 21st 2013, 11:11 PM

    No one I’m afraid Jeremy. Who speaks for the unemployed or the working poor who can’t afford pension or health insurance but yet have to cough up tp pay for teachers pay an pensions

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    Mute John Enright
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    May 21st 2013, 11:22 PM

    @ Jeremy .When you get to the top of the teachers incremental scale you can’t get any more increments. Your pay is then 57k. Incidentally it takes 25 years to get to the top of same scale. So not everyone gets a pay raise every year. Also the scale involves many years of staying on the same increment before moving onto next increment. A bit of research and you might learn this instead of your constant generalising. A little known fact is that public servants pay 15% of salary towards their pension, pity the same couldn’t be said for everyone as the pension timebomb is just down the road.

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    Mute Dennis Laffey
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    May 22nd 2013, 11:51 AM

    @Realiity Offends… A disproportionate amount of tax?? How so?

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    Mute siobeli
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    May 21st 2013, 10:09 PM

    Absolute joke, I work in a job where I got a pay cut in January, have recently went down to a 4 day week and today was told that I am getting another 5% pay cut in June, this along with no pension or sick pay, and I rarely take more than 15 mins for my lunch.
    And I read here teachers are looking for €1300 to stand in a yard looking at kids playing!!!

    79
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    Mute angela gaffney
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    May 21st 2013, 10:27 PM

    And if their not there and a child has an accident who will you blame …is rather the get the money and kids can go play rather than spend their break sitting looking out a window

    89
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    Mute Dwayne Jordan
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    May 21st 2013, 10:28 PM

    Then start paying into a pension and stop giving out about the problem

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    Mute Tony Canning
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    May 21st 2013, 11:50 PM

    It’s called duty of care…. to be fair siobeli, at least you have a job… Not saying that to be smart but there are a lot of teachers out there with no work. Myself included.

    51
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    Mute Brenda Gannon
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    May 22nd 2013, 1:33 AM

    Check your employment rights at NERA, your employer must give you a minimum 30minute break after working 5 hours.

    33
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    Mute Cathy Quinlan
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    May 22nd 2013, 10:47 AM

    Not if you’re a doctor!

    16
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    Mute Stephen Stafford
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    May 21st 2013, 11:23 PM

    Whether you believe the teachers/civil/public service deserve the money or not, this country’s public pay and pensions bill is totally crazy. Unaffordable and totally unrealistic…. Even if we hadn’t bailed out the bastard banks. Our public service needs to be modernised, I’m NOT necessarily talking about pay cuts, but how about actual modernisation; real measurable productivity based pay rates. Real and tangible efficiencies.
    Union fat cats and grossly overpaid TD’s ensuring the status quo stays in place… And by status quo I’m talking about them, lining their own pockets and ensuring the tax payer (public and private sector) do not get value for money meaning all citizens are treated to inefficient, below par public services.

    60
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    Mute WanderArch
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    May 21st 2013, 9:43 PM

    Why does the gov need to investigate methods of retaining its NCHD’s? All it needs to do is look at Oz, Canada, UK, New Zealand and see what it is they do there… And copy it.

    58
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    Mute Martin Jones
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    May 21st 2013, 10:37 PM

    The teachers should be ashamed of themselves,greedy little pigs that don’t care about the future of the country. Have they no shame?

    54
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    Mute Tony Canning
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    May 21st 2013, 11:51 PM

    Yes – the country is in the state it is in because of teachers. It’s allllll down to teachers.

    Donkey…

    87
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    Mute Kat D
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    May 22nd 2013, 12:33 AM

    Martin…lie down…and don’t attempt to comment about things you clearly don’t understand!!! Because if you had any inkling of how these cuts and more importantly change in working conditions are going to affect the future of education you’d climb down off your high horse!!! Just you Wait till all these are imposed on teachers…the quality of education in Ireland (clearly something the gov couldn’t give a fiddlers about) is going to go down the drain!!! Teachers will not have time to do what they are employed to do….TEACH!!!! Educate yourself on the facts please!!!

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    Mute W.j.d.
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    May 22nd 2013, 1:36 AM

    Kay enlighten me….. I’d like to know the facts…..

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    Mute W.j.d.
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    May 22nd 2013, 1:37 AM

    Kat…. Not Kay

    5
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    Mute Kat D
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    May 22nd 2013, 7:05 AM

    Not my job to…but ill give you one example…in this deal teachers have to make themselves available for 3 hours supervision per week!!! This means on any given week a teacher could be doing three hours of UNPAID supervision/substitution…which of course includes sitting in to supervise a class for teachers who are absent!!! During those class periods teachers normally would do photocopying, planning etc!!! When will teachers get to do that now??? After school will be the reply of the ignorant…however many teachers take a sports team or have to teach extra classes OR what about the thorn in the side of very school….CROKE PARK HOURS or school self evaluation?? So what you have is no time for teachers to plan for their classes…which at the end of it all means..THE STUDENTS LOSE OUT!!!!

    31
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    Mute Fine Gael Rep
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    May 21st 2013, 9:52 PM

    We’ll break the greedy bast*rds yet!!

    37
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    Mute Tony Canning
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    May 22nd 2013, 4:06 AM

    I know that obvious troll is obvious – but it raises something interesting.

    Is it about “breaking” people…. more and more it does seem to be about that. Across both public and private service, and not just in pay.

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    Mute Dennis Laffey
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    May 22nd 2013, 11:52 AM

    A bit over the top Tony.

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    Mute Tony Canning
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    May 22nd 2013, 12:14 PM

    Really? I suppose that depends how literally you take the comment. One thing is for sure, the middle and lower classes always end up targeted in austerity situations.
    I think it would be naive to think that is unintentional.

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    Mute Peter O'neill
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    May 21st 2013, 11:00 PM

    Is it true that with increments teachers have already recouped 70 to 80 percent of “cuts”? It is according to Isme.

    36
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    Mute Tony Canning
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    May 21st 2013, 11:48 PM

    Well ISME is in the business of reducing wages. They know that by reducing pay in the public sector that private sector will follow – something not taken into consideration by some anti-public service commentors.

    That’s not to say that targeted cuts aren’t required. But they should be targeted. These proposals disproportionately bust people at entry level. The future effect of this will be felt….

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    Mute Diarmuid Brennan
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    May 21st 2013, 11:57 PM

    Its quiet simple, if the teachers go on strike! Kids stay at home. If the nurses go on strike people die! I would look after the nurses and any teacher who wasn’t happy with their pay cut, get rid of em and employ some new unemployed graduate teachers.

    23
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    Mute Christmas Carroll
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    May 22nd 2013, 12:27 AM

    That’s not a solution, it’s illegal… Did Big Jim have no effect on people a century later?!

    23
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    Mute Padraic Dooley
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    May 22nd 2013, 2:23 AM

    If a teacher job is so hard and so badly paid (working 6 months of the year) then why don’t ye pack up and go to Australia and find a proper job with all the so called guards that have so-posed to have gone there

    19
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    Mute Tony Canning
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    May 22nd 2013, 4:03 AM

    That old chestnut….

    Perhaps there are people in the country who actually want to stay here Padraic? Perhaps there are reasons why they can’t?

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    Mute WanderArch
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    May 22nd 2013, 5:55 AM

    You doubt whether they’re actually going to Australia? They are. In their troves. Along with UAE, some left for Africa, some went to Asia, I believe Canada too is quite big amongst teachers. All the countries that treats them better than here.,. So pretty much anywhere else. Not unLike the NCHD’s current situation.

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    Mute Stephen Stafford
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    May 22nd 2013, 11:40 AM

    UAE? An oil producing mega rich economy, not comparable to a northern European island that can’t even raise cash on the open markets.
    Canada? Again, if you research even Canada, a country that was well set up (proper regulation of banks, and transparent politics) for the financial crash and hasn’t suffered the catastrophic losses we have, pay their teachers in or around the same as us, with starting bands as low as 27kEUR and 32kEUR for teachers with 4 and 6 years education respectively.
    Australia, again, start around 30kEUR, then max out at about 43kEUR.
    This all goes back to my original point above. This public/private fight can’t be won or lost just based on how much we pay people to work in the public sector. It must be fought with the objective to improve the outcomes of both what the public service does and how much it costs. If teachers changed how they worked for example, curriculum were modernised, our education system could probably add so much more to the economy, rather than what we have now which is seen by old guard Irish politicians (MOST OF THEM TOO) as a cost centre.

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    Mute Stephen Stafford
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    May 22nd 2013, 11:45 AM

    Struggling to get my point across! Trying to say that the political/union fight is currently based on euros and not on anything else. We can’t keep fighting like this because while all that is going on, students AND teachers (and tax payers) are left behind, when smart economies (like Singapore, that we are supposedly aspiring to) are overtaking us at a rate of knots

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    Mute Alan Madden
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    May 22nd 2013, 12:11 AM

    Spot the teacher hangout tonight…….

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    Mute Paul Lanigan
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    May 22nd 2013, 7:52 AM

    What you must remember is that a secondary school teachers salary is for half a year

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    Mute Dwayne Jordan
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    May 22nd 2013, 8:43 AM

    Are you a teacher Paul ?

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    Mute Rufus Hound
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    May 22nd 2013, 11:13 AM

    Paul, to teach effectively one spends one’s ‘supposed’ holidays researching, examining, marking, planning, preparing, training, administering and the likes, without which it would be impossible to stand in front of a class with simmering meaningful to communicate to them. Incidentally, as a teacher at third level, I routinely work 55 hours on a standard week (which is illegal by the way, but we won’t get into that now).

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    Mute Dennis Laffey
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    May 22nd 2013, 12:08 PM

    Rufus a lot of people work overtime in their salaried positions so that is beside the point. Anyway to say that teaching at secondary and primary level requires the same level of research and planning as third level (or to imply it as you did) is disingenuous. We all know that the research required by primary and secondary level teachers is dictated by the curriculum as set by the Ministry of Education, with a possible extra by some excellent teachers into teaching methodology.

    However you point’s real drive suggests that research and maintenance of skills should be paid work. I think that you’ll find that the majority of industries EXPECT you to keep your skills current on your own time. This is certainly true of medicine, engineering, law, marketing etc… according to friends and family. Why do you expect that the time that you invest in maintaining your skills as a teacher should be paid for by your employers?

    Also I would have thought that most of you administration is handled by the administrators that are paid employees of the state. Unless you are saying that they shirk their responsibility?

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    Mute Gar.
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    May 22nd 2013, 9:24 PM

    No Dwayne, Paul is a well known troll.

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    Mute Gar.
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    May 22nd 2013, 9:33 PM

    Wrong Dennis. If you have an honours Physics or Chemistry LC class for example the curriculum is never enough. Any new discoveries/ideas floating around Discovery Science channels that they have seen they want to know about. Also from experience they want to know every little minute detail about the course well above and beyond the curriculum. I find myself dipping in my Uni notes very often. (Which I love because it keeps me on my toes.)

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    Mute Paul Lanigan
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    May 22nd 2013, 9:36 PM

    If by troll you mean a self employed person who contributes more to the public purse than you and is entitled to less.

    But that’s my choice so I won’t whine about it. Your job is your choice. If you don’t like the terms leave. Just stop your bloody whining

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    Mute Gar.
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    May 22nd 2013, 10:09 PM

    Well if you contribute more and are entitled to less then that would make you a sucker. :)

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    Mute Ian Campbell
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    May 22nd 2013, 8:41 AM

    SELL OUTS….. Just proves divide ad conquer works and the Irish take it up the rear end unlike our EU counter parts

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