NEWLY elected president of the INTO (Irish National Teachers’ Organisation), Anne Horan from Ballineen, has said that school communities need to work together to inform their children about the dangers of social media.
Speaking to The Southern Star, Anne, who took up her new role this week and now resides in Glin in County Limerick, said that while social media has many advantages, it does come with its dangers.
‘I think parents and teachers need to work together to inform our children about these dangers and to educate children, in school and at home, as to how best to use this digital technology,’ she said.
Anne said that schools also face an interesting time as a redeveloped curriculum is being introduced, and that the INTO will support teachers and insist on proper resourcing and in-service training as the roll-out of subject areas continues.
Despite her new role, Anne said she is definitely the ‘eternal student’ as she is currently a PhD student at Mary Immaculate College in Limerick, having previously studied for a B Ed Degree at the same college.
The daughter of Kathleen and the late and well-known Garda Frank Burke, who was a motorcycle garda for many years in Ballineen, Anne began her teaching career in the one-teacher school of Dunmanus National School in Toormore in Schull in 1980.
‘I remember the collegiality and support I received there, and indeed that I still receive from the Glin branch of the INTO. I moved to Limerick then during the recessionary years of the 1980s and became a staff member at St Fergus National School in 1992. I then moved to Carrickferry National School as a principal in 2008.’
A believer that one is always better in a trade union, she was always interested in the INTO. Having spent a number of years as a staff representative, Anne became a delegate to the District 13 committee, serving Limerick and Kerry.
‘In 2015 I was elected as CEC rep (Central Executive Committee) for District 13 and nine years later I was elected vice president and this year I am honoured to have been elected president of the largest all-island teaching union in the country.’
She is keen to work on increasing the attendance of teachers at union meetings, and is also acutely aware on a wider scale that teachers, like other workers, are affected by the rising cost of living and the cost of housing.
‘This is one of the main reasons so many of our teachers are working abroad and reluctant to come home. INTO continues to advocate on behalf of its members in these areas,’ she added.
Anne hopes to continue the work of those previous presidents who have led her way.
‘I hope to be remembered for being available to talk to teachers, and for working hard on their behalf.’
She said Ballineen and West Cork will always be special to her, and she visits there regularly to see her mum Kathleen, who is being cared for in Busmount Nursing Home in Clonakilty, while four of her five sisters, Frances, Julie, Tricia and Brenda, live in Cork, while Cathy lives in Dublin.
