Health union official appointed as new general secretary of ASTI

The Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland ( ASTI ) has confirmed the appointment of Linda Kelly as its new general secretary.

Kelly, who succeeds Kieran Christie, is currently national secretary for health and social care professionals, pharmacy and statutory regulation at Fórsa .

A native of Cork, she is a graduate of University College Cork (UCC), where she studied Speech and Language Therapy, and the Institute of Public Administration.

She was elected equality officer at the Union of Students in Ireland (USI, now AMLE) then a project officer with Ahead, which works to support disabled people in education and employment.

She joined Fórsa in 2012, initially as an organiser in its education department and has risen through the ranks since to co-lead its health division, which has more than 30,000 members.

She has been involved in a number of disputes during her time with the union, including the recent strike action by perfusionists based at the Mater and four other hospitals across the country.

She succeeds Christie, who had previously been a teacher with a long history of activism in the ASTI itself.

The union represents secondary teachers across the country and had 20,212 members at the end of 2024, up from 18, 872 the year before. Two thirds of its membership are women.

Like most of the public unions it has benefited from sustained recruitment in sectors like education, health and administration.

It has annual income of about €6 million and assets of €14 million.

Kelly, who is due to leave Fórsa in the coming weeks, is scheduled to take up the position at the end of September.