DIARY:
Ruminations, Occasional thoughts & happenings - as they
arise
New School at Castlewellan, Friday, 24th June 2000
Yesterday I was one of
many guests at the opening of the new £12 million St. Malachy's High
School, Castlewellan, County Down (where I taught art & design for
ten years or so).
I was a bit apprehensive about
going, for I have not visited the school since taking early retirement,
ten years ago.
But I need not have
worried! From the moment I arrived I was greeted by many old
colleagues as a long absent friend - which I am, I was surprised to
realise.
Strong bonds of friendship are
formed in the workplace, stronger than I thought, and I realised, for the
first time, how much I had enjoyed the company of my fellow teachers, on
the occasions we were not slaving away in the classroom. Really
exhausting work I can tell you, if you have never had the
experience.
Beyond the totally obliterated remnants of the
decrepit old school that I had worked in - a structure that served the
community for forty years - now rises up in porticoed splendour one of the
finest and most up-to-date schools in Ireland, in the British Isles -
perhaps in the world. I kid you not!
At a cost of
almost £13,000,000 it would need to be - you might say - and it
truly is, catering for over 1,000 pupils and run by about 80 teaching and
auxiliary staff.
Great to see that pupils and staff
have, at long last, a building that will form the ideal background to
vital educational processes. It is exceptionally well designed -
with a supervisorary input from an old friend of mine from our Belfast
College of Art, School of Architecture days, in the 1950's - the late
Gerry Irvine, Architect with the S.E. Educ.& Library Board. God be
good to him. There is every mod.con. imaginable, including £300,000
worth of computer equipment in the IT department! The mind
boggles. Four Servers linking every classroom and office in the
building!
St. Malachy, as depicted by Sinead Mallon, watches over all in the foyer.
The building was blessed and declared open by bishop Patrick Walsh, and
along with him and the bishop of Dromore we then celebrated Eucharist in
the beautiful gym, with the school choir singing songs in English
(Glory to God in the highest), Irish (Cead mile failte romhat, a
Iosa - A hundred thousand welcomes to Jesus), the Zulu language
(Siyahamba - Walking in the Light of God) and Spanish (Nada te
Turbe - Let nothing trouble you). Very
impressive.
Our new N. I. Minister of Education,
Martin McGuinness MLA, arrived at that point, jet-lagged from a visit to
the White House and to Irish President Mary McAleese at Áras an
Uachtaráin. He was there to plant a tree to mark the occasion.
Great to see that he is no longer 'on the run', as he recently remarked to
one group of pupils ..... and is planting trees rather than .... well ...
bombs ... I suppose ..... if he ever did this, or ordered it .... as IRA
Chief of Staff ..... if he ever was this .... Better to hear him
rhapsodise about the need for education and the beauty of County Down ....
Better, but strange.....
"Lovely to stand in front of this fine building and marvel at the
splendour of the Mournes in this beautiful County of Down ....."
said the Minister thoughtfully. And then, after a pause,
".... A pity about the football team!" (Are Down not doing
too well? I ask myself. I know nothing about such
things.)
My First Autograph
"Mick!" said somebody later, as I passed a lady seeking Minister
McGuinness's autograph in the foyer, "Have you got a
pen?"
"Certainly," said I, starting to
search.
"It's alright," said the Education
Minister, producing the required object, "I've got
one."
"I suppose," said I, "As long as you're
signing autographs, you may as well sign my
programme!"
"Shurely," said the Minister
in his soft Derry accent, and scribbled his best.
"Martin", I said "You have no
idea what a privilege that is for you. That's the first autograph I
ever had in my life."
For a fraction of a
second his eyes took on a stoned, baffled look - and I passed on
towards the dining hall, a smile welling up inside. Perhaps he
thought that I was talking dyslexic.
The rest of the
afternoon went marvelously well - 300 people sitting down to a splendid
lunch in the huge assembly hall, with a glass of wine or three to gladden
already glad hearts - Canon O'Hagan never turned up at our table and I
drank his - to fortify us for speeches that have to be put up with, and
which you could have written yourself. But they were well meant, and
essential to the occasion - and a bit entertaining here and there - so
nobody minded.
I was glad to be there, and I
am tickled pink that teachers in Castlewellan for the next forty
years or more will have a proper building in which to carry on the great
and essential task of educating children.
I dream
that all schools in the future will be built and equipped to the same
standard. A death - a death I say - to classroom mobiles, crumbling
plasterwork and rusting metal window frames!
If
you are ever in the area try to arrange a visit with the new principal,
Nuala Cunningham - the first woman to be appointed to the task, and one of
a very fine group of former teaching colleagues, who - I am proud
and slightly amazed to discover - are actually
friends.
A great day!