The formation of The Teaching Council in Ireland in 2004- 2005 has opened up the debate on the growing need for the professionalisation of post-primary teachers in the minds of policy makers and practitioners alike. The debate questions models of inservice training and made redundant many forms of once off courses which have so often characterised the post-primary teacher education system to date.This paper charts the beginning months in setting up a mentoring programme, geared toward uniting initial, induction and in-career post-primary teachers through mentoring relationships in a school-university partnership in the Department of Education and Professional Studies, University of Limerick. It reports on the insights gleaned and the limitations encountered as the project seeks to structure a mentoring programme inside the theoretical framework of innovation, learning and leadership. The mentoring programme, Mentoring for innovation, Learning and leadership (MiLl) offers initial teachers a chance to receive affirmation and support in their beginning weeks as practitioners in the schools and a way of blending theory with practice for richer meaning making. For the experienced teachers, the programme provides them with the opportunity to learn from newer approaches currently used in initial teacher training, a chance to reconceptualise their own role as teachers and opportunities for renewal. The project aims to network Teachers, Principals and Deputy Principals with Teacher Educators for continuous professional development, for personal development and for pedagogical enrichment for all involved and in the process to locate a spectrum of theoretical frameworks for mentoring relationships suitable to a modern Ireland. The research findings raise some fundamental questions about the cultures of both schools and universities and the dichotomy between maintaining perceived standards and systems and moving the education system toward innovation, collaboration and within the paradigm of building learning communities. The research questions the culture and context of both the schools and university as places of scholarship and learning in the early years of the 21st century. The paper documents in historical terms the professional development of post-primary teachers over the last twenty five years in Ireland and the research points to some possibilities, limitations and requirements for the future. The research methods involve a qualitative study, a needs analysis of six case study schools, a document analysis, reflective journal entries and focus group interviews with principals, deputy principals, teachers and some key educators. The research draws on international research on mentoring including comparative research findings from two other European countries.