The 180-member central executive of the ASTI is set to back a €200,000 settlement with its general secretary, Mr Charlie Lennon, at the weekend.
With Mr Lennon set to depart within weeks, the union will appoint his deputy, Mr John White, as interim general secretary.
Mr White is now the favourite to succeed Mr Lennon on a full-time basis. Unusually within a deeply divided union, Mr White is popular with both the pro- and anti-Lennon camps.
Much interest will surround the intentions of the former president, Ms Bernadine O'Sullivan, who took issue with Mr Lennon on several occasions.
It remains unclear whether Ms O'Sullivan, who contested the last Seanad elections, is interested in the post of general secretary.
The ASTI central executive council meeting on Sunday will decide on a majority basis whether to rubber-stamp Mr Lennon's package. Later this month it will also decide the process for selecting the new general secretary.
Critically, it will have to decide whether the union should be represented by a full-time professional trade unionist like Mr White or by a teacher "who would have to return to the classroom", as one source put it yesterday.
Staff at ASTI headquarters paid warm tribute to Mr Lennon yesterday. In a statement they said: "The whole staff wish to express their sincere gratitude to their much-loved and esteemed colleague Charlie Lennon for his many years of superb leadership as general secretary of the ASTI."
The statement from staff follows last week's strong rebuke from the Labour Court in a case involving head office personnel. This was highly critical of elected officers of the union. It heard of a culture of bullying and harassment.
Last week, the standing committee of the union rejected the Labour Court ruling. The ASTI president, Mr Pat Cahill, said the court had heard "only one side of the story". The union had been advised by its lawyers not to attend the Labour Court hearing because of the injunction obtained by Mr Lennon. This injunction restrained the ASTI from investigating allegations of bogus expense claims.
On the €200,000 settlement, one ASTI source said "it was better to settle than risk a long and expensive court case".
Mr Lennon is expected to take up another trade union post after Christmas.
In their statement, ASTI head office staff said : "Our service to ASTI members has constantly been inspired by Charlie's tireless and courageous work in the interest of teachers and teaching."
In a letter to The Irish Times last night, solicitors for the ASTI described as misleading a headline in yesterday's paper suggesting Mr Lennon was to receive a "€200,000 award".
"The clear implication is that Charles Lennon has secured an award of damages against the ASTI from the High Court which is patently untrue," they said. "The High Court proceedings issued by Charles Lennon are still in being."
