At least 5,000 teachers, parents and students gathered outside Leinster House this evening to express their opposition to Government spending cutbacks.
At a noisy demonstration on a cold and wet night that was smaller than protests by third-level students and older people last week, the Government was warned of major disruption in schools across the State from next January.
Ferdia Kelly - representing most second level school managers - said school principals and deputy principals "are saying loudly and clearly that they are not available to supervise classes where teachers are absent. Failure to act now on this proposal will lead to an unwelcome disruption of school life in January."
Government cutbacks will result in substitution cover for uncertified sick leave and teachers on school business being removed at second level from January 7th next.
Gardaí estimated that the crowd numbered around 5,000, although protest organisers said anything up to 15,000 were out in force at one point.
The protest coincided with a Dáil debate on the Government’s Budget cuts that began at 7pm and will continue tomorrow morning with the vote at noon.
Teachers unions and branches from right across the State were out in force, as well as hundreds of younger trainees from training colleges such as St Patrick's College, Dublin and Mary Immaculate Training College, Limerick.
One noisy group included 60 teachers and parents who travelled from St Mochulla's national school in Co Clare by bus. School principal Brian Torpey said the cutbacks will result in larger class sizes of up to 37 students.
"At the moment we have 261 children with 10 mainstream teachers. Next year we'll have 270 students and nine teachers. That means much larger class sizes for everyone," he said.
"We're basically going back to the 1980s with a 21st century curriculum and 21st century children."
Eimear Dolan from Killorglin, Co Kerry - holding a placard reading, "Hey TDs, leave our kids alone!" - said parents and teachers in the area were furious.
"I'm a teacher and a parent and I'm completely outraged. They going after older people and children," she said.
"We thought we had made progress over the past few years, and now we're going to lose all of that."
INTO general secretary, John Carr told demonstrators that the Budget was an act of "educational vandalism for which children will pay a high price for many years to come. In putting the boot into primary education, government showed no consideration, no compassion and no conscience."
Addressing the rally to loud cheers, he declared: "We are here to say to government that the budget was a full frontal attack against the education system and against children. This savage, cynical and callous attack on primary education will be resented and resisted in every school, in every parish, town and city in Ireland. "
ASTI vice President Joe Moran described the Budget as mean spirited and misguided, adding that they will affect every young person in second-level education.
Mr Moran said that Ireland comes 27th out of 29 OECD countries when it comes to Ireland's spending on education relative to the country's wealth.
The president of the Teachers Union of Ireland, Don Ryan, told protesters: "We are mobilising and embarking on a campaign to defend the future of the children and young people of this country.
"What you Ministers Lenihan and O'Keeffe did was grievously unpatriotic. You have undermined and damaged the future of a huge cohort of young Irish people."
The demonstration, attended by teachers, students and parents from right across the State, was dominated by chants such as "You say cutback - we say fightback," and "Fianna Fáil out."