As the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) called off its action to allow for talks, students are returning to schools and many parents are returning to work.

The President of the National Parents Council post primary, Mr Paul Mooney, welcomed the announcement of the suspension of the strike and return to supervision and substitution duties. He urged the two parties to continue to affirm the education of our children as central to their thoughts as they negotiate.

The National Parents Council post primary received overwhelming number of calls and emails from parents in the reaction to the risk of indefinite closure of the majority of second level schools and the industrial dispute itself. We are delighted to see the students returning to their classrooms this morning and hope that the dispute will no longer impact on education of our children.