There are long faces in the convention centre and furrowed brows along the hotel corridors. The mood at this year's ASTI conference is sombre and gloomy. There is little in the way of light relief. Teachers feel angry, frustrated and exasperated.
Although they are loath to admit it, you sense that many in their hearts also feel defeated. The campaign for a 30 per cent pay increase, launched amid such optimism in Killarney one year ago, is on the ropes. The harsh fact is that the Government called the union's bluff and has seen it off at the pass.
There is loose talk of a fresh campaign in September. Many delegates undoubtedly want to battle on, but it may be that the war is already lost.
Teachers have not just lost a pay battle, they have also suffered another devastating blow to their morale, which has rarely been very high in recent years. Among delegates, the forceful manner in which their pay claim was dismissed has underlined their view that the profession is undervalued by the parents, by the Government and by society at large.
One said: "We were not just fighting for the 30 per cent. We were trying to protect the value of our education system, but no one came to our support."
Most of the teachers attending the conference are over 40, many are over 50. For all of their working lives, they have been working in an education system which has been chronically under-funded. Typically, some would have spent a decade or more teaching in a pre-fabricated building.
After the lean years, many ASTI members saw the 30 per cent pay claim as a kind of pay back time for teachers. It was an opportunity for parents, for the Government, for society to reward teachers for years of service. It was an opportunity for society to thank teachers for the unpaid work with the football team, the drama club and the debating team.
More than most professionals, teachers need this kind of affirmation. Whereas most workers are routinely encouraged by their employers, teachers can work a whole academic year without one principal or one parent telling them they are doing a good job.
"We close the door of the classroom, and people often only tell us about the job we are doing when there is a problem," said one delegate.
This morning most secondary teachers feel angry and disappointed about the turn of events in their pay dispute with the Government. It has confirmed many in their view that this society does not care enough for its teaching profession, that it takes teachers for granted.
That is why the majority of teachers are likely to reject the revised Labour Court offer - if the mood of delegates here is any guide. Few seem interested in the nuances of benchmarking or wider questions about the partnership process. For many, the failure to deliver cash up front for teachers says it all.
"The Government, parents' groups, the media may pay lip-service to teachers and their needs, but where were these people in our hour of need?" asked one delegate acidly.
Today, the ASTI will begin to weigh the various options - should they reject the Labour Court offer in next week's ballot. In truth, its room for manoeuvre is very limited. There is clearly no stomach for any further ban on exam work, something which will be confirmed in next week's ballot.
The union's prized "nuclear option" is already back in cold storage after its deployment proved counter-productive. It burnt bridges with parents and the public, and it forced the Department of Education to assemble a credible contingency plan for exams without ASTI co-operation.
The focus today is set to be on a new strategy which will target the Department and not students or their parents. There appears to be little stomach for further school closures. Instead, the union may direct its fire on the Department by withdrawing daily co-operation and refusing to push through new initiatives from September.
This low-level action is not likely to have the Minister for Education shaking in his bed. This winter, the ASTI has failed to weaken the Government's resolve despite the exam threat - and despite the loss of over a dozen schooldays. Why should anyone be confident that less dramatic action will yield dividends?
There is another way - making common cause with the other teaching unions, the INTO and the TUI, in the benchmarking body. Both unions are confident of securing hefty pay increases from the body. Senator Joe O'Toole has famously likened it to an ATM cash machine.
There is as yet no sign that the ASTI is ready to build bridges with the other teaching unions, but privately, many ASTI delegates will acknowledge that the union's failure to forge an alliance with the TUI and the INTO was the Achilles' heel of its campaign.
In his address last night, the ASTI president, Mr Don Mc Cluskey, pointed to the rich potential of a united teacher movement. On the News at One yesterday, the INTO president, Mr Donal O Loinsigh, responded warmly to these overtures.
As a first step, the ASTI could come back in from the cold and join forces with the other teaching unions in the benchmarking body. This would appear to be the logical next move, but with emotions running so high, there are few in ASTI willing to promote this viewpoint publicly.
After a bruising winter pay battle, secondary teachers are in no mood to make any more concessions. The question is whether they have anywhere else to go.