No of teachers in the new Dáil

Fiskar

Quick question: How many teachers did we elect to 31st Dáil?

How many businessmen/women?

wow sierra

You should be able to get that information on Journal.ie .

I don't think you should define a person by their profession. Your job is what you choose to do, or are forced to do, to earn a living - it doesn't define you as a person. There are many and varied qualities and skills you learn from life experience, community activities, study of finance, history and world events etc, etc, etc. Qualities like empathy and humility go a long way too.



Anyway the info you want is probably on Journal.ie

Bullseye1

No wonder they have three months holidays.

Killer Pigeon

Enda is a teacher and Martin is too.

Cat Melodeon

From the Indo:

TEACHERS will still make up the largest professional group in the 31st Dail -- despite an increase in TDs with more varied backgrounds.
One-fifth of those so far elected have an educational background.
And with counting still going on in three constituencies the final tally could be even higher.
A total of 154 seats have been filled and 30 of these TDs are former national and secondary school teachers, pre-school teachers and university lecturers.
The number is down from 2007 when 38 politicians who previously worked in education entered the Dail.
But despite this, the sector is still the largest to be represented -- with only farmers and those who state that their full-time occupation is "public representative" following it.
The revelation comes in the wake of anger at the number of teacher-turned-politicians, some of who are in line for double or triple pensions when the leave office.
Under changes being introduced by the Department of Education, newly elected teacher-TDs and senators will be able to keep their old jobs open for up to 10 years in future.
However, the teachers-turned-politicians will not be able to chalk up both teaching and Oireachtas pensions at the same time.
Of the 30 teacher-politicians who will enter the new Dail, 21 are sitting TDs who have been returned and nine are new TDs who have just been elected.

Lecturers
The Dail will have two college lecturers -- Fianna Fail TD Niall Collins, who is a former lecturer at the Limerick Institute of Technology, and Joan Burton from DIT.
There are five school principals -- three of whom are new TDs: Labour's Aodhan O Riordain; Fine Gael's Mary Mitchell O'Connor; and Fine Gael's Jim Daly.
Pre-school teacher Jan O'Sullivan will also be serving in the Dail as will People Before Profit Independent TD Richard Boyd Barrett, who is a former teacher of English to foreign students.
The second largest occupation for TDs in the new Dail are those who were already full-time public representatives, of which there are 23.
Farmers are the third largest professional grouping -- with 15 politicians listing this as their occupation.
The Dail will also see seven former barristers and solicitors -- down from the 16 TDs who listed this as their occupation in the last Dail. And the 31st Dail will have three GPs -- Fine Gael TDs Dr James Reilly, Leo Varadkar and Liam Twomey.
It will also see a raft of other occupations. New Fine Gael TD Noel Harrington is a former An Post employee, while his colleague Peter Mathews is a banking and finance consultant.
New Socialist Party TD Clare Daly is a former Aer Lingus catering assistant, while new Sinn Fein TD Jonathan O'Brien is a qualified roofer.
New Independent TD Luke 'Ming' Flanagan is a former director of a merchandising company, while new Sinn Fein TD Michael Colreavy is a former IT project manager for the Health Service Executive.
Veteran Fianna Fail TD Eamon O Cuiv is a former Gaeltacht co-operative manager and Sinn Fein TD Martin Ferris is a former fisherman.
- Patricia McDonagh
Irish Independent

CDfm

30 Teachers :eek::eek:

liogairmhordain

Killer Pigeon wrote: »

Enda is a teacher.

This one annoys me a little to be honest. He's not a teacher, he's a politician. He worked as a teacher for four years in the 1970s. Since then, he's spent 36 years in another line of work.

CDfm

liogairmhordain wrote: »

This one annoys me a little to be honest. He's not a teacher, he's a politician. He worked as a teacher for four years in the 1970s. Since then, he's spent 36 years in another line of work.

No gainful employment in 36 years so

kraggy

CDfm wrote: »

No gainful employment in 36 years so

Oh he's gained alright. 7th highest beneficiary of state money between 2005 and 2008.

Yet he gives out about the waste of government like he never enjoyed an average of €205,000 per year in salary and expenses.

CDfm

Its a bit unfair to target the expenses but if they are constituency related the further you are away -the higher they are likely to be.

loldog

Running a country is not the same as running a business. People clamouring for the likes of MOL to be in charge of the government don't see that it would end in misery and disaster.

.

efb

loldog wrote: »

Running a country is not the same as running a business. People clamouring for the likes of MOL to be in charge of the government don't see that it would end in misery and disaster.

.

Imagine if that happened .. Oh wait...

CDfm

loldog wrote: »

Running a country is not the same as running a business. People clamouring for the likes of MOL to be in charge of the government don't see that it would end in misery and disaster.

.

But what about the health service.

I dont suppose he could tackle inefficiencies and waste.

krissovo

loldog wrote: »

Running a country is not the same as running a business. People clamouring for the likes of MOL to be in charge of the government don't see that it would end in misery and disaster.

.

Why is running a country not like running a business? Apart from the fact that running a country on the current system is more like managing your own ego and the public opinion of yourself. It should be like running a business, not a shop or a consultancy but a large enterprise.

It should be results driven! Not upsetting voters driven.

bamboozle

loldog wrote: »

Running a country is not the same as running a business. People clamouring for the likes of MOL to be in charge of the government don't see that it would end in misery and disaster.

.

sure, god forbid we have people running the show who have experience of setting and meeting fiscal targets, we're much better off with a bunch of teachers and farmers who know the ins and outs of prudent fiscal management, debt management, financial regulation etc

In response to OP's question, in Dublin North central 2/3 of our td's are teachers. Perhaps the huge advantages afforded to teachers in running for election and sitting as TD's has resulted in so many of them lending their talents on a national stage.

CDfm

bamboozle wrote: »

sure, god forbid we have people running the show who have experience of setting and meeting fiscal targets, we're much better off with a bunch of teachers and farmers who know the ins and outs of prudent fiscal management, debt management, financial regulation etc

a farmer should know because farming is a business.

a teachers life experience is in a classroom and staffroom.

it amazes me with how teachers talk about how much they do workwise that any find time to go for election.

In response to OP's question, in Dublin North central 2/3 of our td's are teachers. Perhaps the huge advantages afforded to teachers in running for election and sitting as TD's has resulted in so many of them lending their talents on a national stage.

i wonder if any of the Teaching Candidates have/had a Leaving Cert Class

20Cent

Its no mystery why there are so many teachers in the Dail.

Teachers will know a lot of people in the local area.
Are involved in local issues, they often are involved in fundraising/events etc.
Most of all they have the time to devote to it.

bamboozle

CDfm wrote: »

a farmer should know because farming is a business.

a teachers life experience is in a classroom and staffroom.

it amazes me with how teachers talk about how much they do workwise that any find time to go for election.




i wonder if any of the Teaching Candidates have/had a Leaving Cert Class

an unsustainable business which requires grants from the EU to prop it up on an annual basis.

CDfm

bamboozle wrote: »

an unsustainable business which requires grants from the EU to prop it up on an annual basis.

True - but you still need to be able to farm in that environment and earn a living within that market.

Higher profit items also fall outside that mechanism.

So farming is a business -it is the market which i interfered with.

TGQ

bamboozle wrote: »

an unsustainable business which requires grants from the EU to prop it up on an annual basis.

Thats to keep the price of beef/lamb/milk etc down for me/you and every other one to buy.

for example, If you went to the mart to sell a bullock in the late 1980's (last recession) you could get up to £900 - £1000. You would be doing very well to get over a €1000 nowdays for the same bullock. £1000 in the 1980's is worth a lot more than €1000 now days probably more like €2500 at least. What price would the butcher have to charge customers if he had to pay €2,500 for animals he bought to kill. That is one of the main reasons why farmers receive grants.

MonkeyDoo

There is a disporportionate amount of teachers in the Dail, over 30 in last government.

Leaders of FF/FG are teachers and their finance ministers will probably be teachers too. No wonder Mary Hanifin (also a teacher) went on frontline and said "there will always be jobs for teachers" Not only did this annoy teachers who can't get jobs but it also showed she had little understanding of jobs outside the classroom. Mary Hanifin has of course been replaced by another teacher!!

I've nothing against teachers going for the Dail but I do think they should be required to give up their teaching job to do it, just like anyother politician has to give up their job. At the moment they keep their teaching job and be a TD. .

http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/mhauojqlojey/

Teacher politicians shaft the tax payer, they should be forced to give up their teaching job. I think this will level the playing field and reduce the number of teachers in the dail. Give other professions a go see how they get on. Would like to see a wider variety of skills in the Dail.

End of Rant.

Cat Melodeon

There was someone on the radio last week - can't remember who but clearly a teacher themselves - saying that it would be unfair to teachers to ask them to give up their positions as it would discourage any of them from running for election. I don't know what planet this person was on, they must think that employers in the private sector are just as understanding and would keep a position open for an employee who decided to go off to the Dail for a couple of decades.

Having to give up the cushiness of a teaching position (or any other public sector position) would certainly show commitment to political life. No one has the right to a safety net should they fail to be reelected. Off to the back of the queue with them, they might gain an appreciation for the life of an average citizen.

CDfm

Cat Melodeon wrote: »

There was someone on the radio last week - can't remember who but clearly a teacher themselves - saying that it would be unfair to teachers to ask them to give up their positions as it would discourage any of them from running for election. I don't know what planet this person was on, they must think that employers in the private sector are just as understanding and would keep a position open for an employee who decided to go off to the Dail for a couple of decades.

Maybe you could pm someone writting on the www.journal.ie -it s connected to boards -to do a poll before the election time lag gets too much

Pharaoh1

bamboozle wrote: »

sure, god forbid we have people running the show who have experience of setting and meeting fiscal targets, we're much better off with a bunch of teachers and farmers who know the ins and outs of prudent fiscal management, debt management, financial regulation etc

In response to OP's question, in Dublin North central 2/3 of our td's are teachers. Perhaps the huge advantages afforded to teachers in running for election and sitting as TD's has resulted in so many of them lending their talents on a national stage.

Of course this is the reason. How many other occupations can you take the time off needed to campaign - if you fail to get elected just go back to work.
If you succeed in getting elected and serve only one term just go back to your job or serve two terms and go back.
I notice quite a few of the unsuccessful candidates were from the teaching profession too.

bleg

liogairmhordain wrote: »

This one annoys me a little to be honest. He's not a teacher, he's a politician. He worked as a teacher for four years in the 1970s. Since then, he's spent 36 years in another line of work.

Teacher by profession. Sitting around on the back benches for 36 years waiting until it's your turn is not being a politician.

CDfm

bleg wrote: »

Teacher by profession. Sitting around on the back benches for 36 years waiting until it's your turn is not being a politician.

was he using the leave of absence thing and would it mean that a substitute is filling in for him untill retirement.

by the end of this dail term the substitute could have spent from their date of appointment to retirement as a substitute

Permabear

This post has been deleted.

InchicoreDude

Teacher by profession. Sitting around on the back benches for 36 years waiting until it's your turn is not being a politician.

Eh, So in your opinion opposition politicians are not politicians?

CDfm

InchicoreDude wrote: »

Eh, So in your opinion opposition politicians are not politicians?

Are students academics ?

I suppose unless you reach government you are a failed or unsuccessful politician.

Anyway, John Bruton says Civil Servants run the country so maybe there are no politicians in Ireland but constituency errand boys.

bleg

InchicoreDude wrote: »

Eh, So in your opinion opposition politicians are not politicians?

Well the opposition has little or no roles in Ireland that you would associate with a politician.

PeakOutput

whatever about running the country not being like running a business it is certainly nothing like running a classroom of 30 or less children

tracking

We have an unemployed builder. Sign of the times?

CDfm

tracking wrote: »

We have an unemployed builder. Sign of the times?

You tracking get out to the line and that comment is going into your journal and must be signed by your mother.

Bottle_of_Smoke

This is brought up a lot. I don't have a problem with it to be honest. In a lot of ways being a teacher is good because they are given an insight into the current young people and the obstacles they face. They meet parents and get to understand their worries.

Still would like to see more high flying economists and financial experts but beign a teacher certainly wouldn't put me off voting for them.

pow wow

If they're smart teachers I have less of an issue with it, but as with all professions there are plenty who aren't.

MonkeyDoo

Permabear wrote: »

This post had been deleted.

Didn't mention RBB I was refering to Mary Mitchell O'Connor...replacing Mary Hanifin as teacher-td in Dun Laoghaire...

http://www.herald.ie/national-news/city-news/ex-teacher-mary-should-go-back-to-driving-school-2564115.html

Nolanger

pow wow wrote: »

If they're smart teachers I have less of an issue with it, but as with all professions there are plenty who aren't.

There are no 'smart teachers'. Intelligent ones yes, but 'smart' means thinking outside the box and not conforming.

delta_bravo

Nolanger wrote: »

There are no 'smart teachers'. Intelligent ones yes, but 'smart' means thinking outside the box and not conforming.

I suppose I could call your post completely stupid and a hilariously inept generalisation but that wouldn't be very "smart" of me as a teacher.

EricPraline

PeakOutput wrote: »

whatever about running the country not being like running a business it is certainly nothing like running a classroom of 30 or less children

Unless you're the Ceann Comhairle. That said, the positions are different in that you will rarely find 30 TDs attending the Dáil at the same time.

#15

Nolanger wrote: »

There are no 'smart teachers'. Intelligent ones yes, but 'smart' means thinking outside the box and not conforming.

Ridiculous generalisation. A thoroughly awful post.

CDfm

#15 wrote: »

Ridiculous generalisation. A thoroughly awful post.

who is awe inspiring of the teachers in the dail?

Does being a lecturer count

10 Things You Never Knew About Joan Burton

1. Joan’s first job was in Dunnes Stores.
2. Joan’s favourite author is Jane Austen.
3. Joan was secretary of the Irish anti-apartheid movement in the 1980’s.
4. Joan’s signature dish is cheesecake & ice cream.
5. Joan was among the first women to become a qualified chartered accountant in Ireland.
6. Joan is an avid gardener.
7. Joan was the first woman to become Finance spokesperson of a major Irish political party.
8. Joan’s favourite musician is Leonard Cohen.
9. Joan was one of the first Irish students ever to work on a J1 Summer visa in the US.
10. Joan was made a Minister of State on her first day in the Dáil in 1992.


http://www.joanburton.ie/about

#15

CDfm wrote: »

who is awe inspiring of the teachers in the dail?

No one, but that wasn't his point. His point was that no teachers are 'smart'. That's a ridiculous generalisation, whatever the profession. The teachers part is beside the point too. You can't seriously make such a point about any group of people.

CDfm

#15 wrote: »

No one, but that wasn't his point. His point was that no teachers are 'smart'. That's a ridiculous generalisation, whatever the profession. The teachers part is beside the point too. You can't seriously make such a point about any group of people.

I imagine teachers get an intro to politics via trade unions and they are all public speakers.

On an aside , some years back I had the privlege of hearing Healy-Rae junior discuss economics.

His accent was pure kerry but his grasp of macro-economics & monetary policy was on the ball & he knew it applications which is more than you can say for many TD's in the Dail.

At the time I was very impressed & I havent been impressed by others.

Nolanger

#15 wrote: »

Ridiculous generalisation. A thoroughly awful post.

It was a spot on post. Do you really think replacing TDs who were teachers with more teachers will make a difference? The most conservative of occupations that encourages rote learning, conforming, and not being different?

Corsendonk

liogairmhordain wrote: »

This one annoys me a little to be honest. He's not a teacher, he's a politician. He worked as a teacher for four years in the 1970s. Since then, he's spent 36 years in another line of work.

I asked about this, no one that went to the school in Skerries that he taught at in the 1970s can remember him, perhaps its just as well he found politics.....

CDfm

I suppose its a mindset

Taoiseach = Headmaster

Cabinet = Board of Management

Cabinet
Office = Staffroom

The Dail = The Hall

Ceann
Comhairle = Hall Monitor

See so anyone who feels they dont have skills should be a teacher

PARKHEAD67

kraggy wrote: »

Oh he's gained alright. 7th highest beneficiary of state money between 2005 and 2008.

Yet he gives out about the waste of government like he never enjoyed an average of €205,000 per year in salary and expenses.

They sure know how to pay themselves. I'll give em that. Im sure this will continue in the future. Or "Going Forward"-the new catchphrase amongst our heroes in the Dail.

MonkeyDoo

FG split the Department of Finance in two.

So, Enda the Teacher-Taoiseach appoints not one but two teachers to head up the finance departments.....

Michael Noonan(former teacher) - Minister of Finance

Brendan Howlin(former teacher) - Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform

Neither have any financial qualifications or experience running a business!
They have spent all their lives getting paid by the state!

I wish all the teacher politicians well in their jobs for the sake of the country but fear "group think" around the cabinet table as their teacher backgrounds are so similar! It can led to alot of disasters in decision making.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_think

I just wish there was more diverse skills in there! A company wouldn't appoint a teacher as a CFO, so why is the country doing it.