CORK man John Driscoll has been elected as the new president of the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation for the forthcoming year.

The Cork city native is an active INTO member and has held office at branch, district, and national level. He has represented Cork City South and West Cork on the INTO Central Executive since 2014.

John graduated from Mary Immaculate College in Limerick in 1980 and is deputy principal of Star of the Sea Primary School in Passage West.

The new president of the INTO is married to Gillian. They have two children Sean and Caoimhe, both of whom are also teachers.

Mr Driscoll said schools and teachers have shown wonderful ‘resilience’ over the last two years.

“I feel enormously privileged to take on the role of president of this all-island union at such an important moment. Over the last two years, the people of Ireland have faced enormous challenges - Brexit, a pandemic and currently, the impact of an unjustified war. Schools and teachers have shown wonderful resilience and flexibility in coping with these.

“However, we will continue to strive for improvements and necessary supports. We will campaign for a post-pandemic recovery plan to include fast-tracked class size reductions; increased funding to address soaring energy costs and sufficient investment to enable us to provide appropriate supports for all children,” he added.

Mr Driscoll said a key priority for the INTO is maintaining the real value of teachers’ salaries to match the growth in inflation. 

“As we approach Public Sector Pay talks in the South and mount a pay campaign in the North, INTO will focus on maintaining the real value of teachers’ salaries in an environment of rampant inflation. This will be a key priority in the coming months,” he said.

Among his other objectives during his tenure as president are to promote recruitment and encourage new members to take active roles in INTO.