The director of Ireland’s representative body for secondary school principals has taken over as president of its European head organisation.

Clive Byrne, who is director of the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals (NAPD), was elected to lead the European School Heads Association (ESHA) for the next two years.

Minister for Education and Skills Jan O Sullivan congratulated Mr Byrne, describing him as "a key leader in post-primary education in Ireland".

She added: “Post-primary education is currently undergoing very significant change, including increased demographics, greater investment and reform of the Junior Cycle.

“One area which must remain a priority for all is ensuring that we continue to have high quality teaching in our classrooms. Quality school leadership is a prerequisite for good teaching and learning.”

ESHA, whose offices are based in Utrecht, Holland, is a professional organisation for European school heads and comprises 43 member associations in 29 countries.

Mr Byrne, who is attending the ESHA’s annual meeting in Croatia this week, said his immediate priority was to promote school leadership and expand the number of cross border exchanges made possible as a result of Erasmus+, the EU student placement programme.