Good morning colleagues,

Last Friday was an interesting day. It began with a mobilisation of school secretaries and caretakers to picket constituency offices around the country. Hundreds were on site at DPER minister Jack Chambers' office in Castleknock, and featured in TV bulletins on Virgin and RTÉ. The Indo's editorial that morning provided another indication of huge public support for striking Fórsa members, as did Ámarach's survey on Friday.

An interview with the Minister for Education on RTÉ's lunchtime bulletin revealed the pressure was really on, while signaling potential for negotiations on the terms the union had sought. As we eased into the weekend, things were looking up.

Behind the scenes, a conversation was brewing on the 7th floor of Lansdowne House. By 10pm, Fórsa announced an agreement to end the strike had been secured, with a key element of the agreement a Government commitment to negotiate comparable pension entitlements for school secretaries and caretakers.

This is how the Irish Times reported the aftermath of last week's strike action, and you can hear Andy Pike talk to Anton Savage from Saturday's broadcast about the latest developments. The parties will begin discussions at the WRC on Wednesday (10th).

Media reaction continues (including another Indo editorial), and school secretary Noreen O'Callaghan will be on Cork's 96fm just after the 9am bulletin this morning.