Some Photos from Fota Wildlife Park

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Fota is a great place to visit with a family.

Actually, it’s a great place to visit anyway. The animals are happy, with plenty of space, the place is well kept, and they always seem to be be developing some new area there.

Here’s a few pictures I got there on Sunday.

Dourga, the female Sumatran Tiger

Junior here is only up to his mothers shoulder. I’m only up to Junior’s shoulder

One of the male giraffes

Inside the tropical house

NEMO! I FOUND NEMO!

First Communion & Our Primary Schools

Posted on May 11, 2014 by johnkilleagh

Let me tell you a story, it’s a sad story, so please don’t laugh…

There was this little school where all the children got on well. All the boys & girls were well prepped and worked towards getting ready for their First Holy Communion.

The day arrived and the class assembled in church, going over their moves when the teacher noticed that little Mary was missing. Mary never missed a day so the teacher got worried and she phoned Mary’s family.

“No problem,” they said “we got held up at the hairdressers so we’re going to skip the church and go straight to the hotel”.

I believe that First Communion in this country has gone in the wrong direction. I first heard the above as an urban legend, but it has an air of possibility about it. And that, for me, is sad. First Communions and Confirmations are happening all over the country at the moment, and the commentary isn’t far behind. Last year I remember Matt Cooper interviewing the owner of a Limo business who put in a policy that he wouldn’t accept First Communion bookings. Why was the policy even needed in the first place?

A little context, First Communion is what is termed a ‘Sacrament of initiation’. There are three of them: Baptism, confirmation, and Eucharist (Communion). The idea is that a child on having taken part in all three sacraments will be a full member of the Catholic Church. Very early in the Church’s history the three were separated out.

Funnily enough, in the modern world, they are not always separated. A convert to Catholicism will receive all three in one go (in a rite called RCIA), and in the Orthodox church, all three also happen in one go.

Due to the Church having such an integral role historically in our primary schools we have a situation where the school is the place where children learn about, and are prepared for, the sacraments of Communion and Confirmation. The sacraments have become rites of passage where the emphasis has moved towards the finery and the money spent rather than on the sacrament itself.

I’m against this. Yes, make a big deal out of a sacrament if you want, but since when should 8 year old girls be worried about a dress costing €200 or more? Since when should they have fake tan? Since when is the contest in school later about how much money in gifts they got?

I think that I may agree with Ruairi Quinn on something. <did I just say that?>

Like him, I think that it would be a good idea to take some of the preparation for communion out of the school. Instruction in Religion could still happen in school, but move the responsibility for the sacramental preparation to the parish.

This has started in some places. In my own parish children and their families attend a series of masses in preparation for their own Communion. A group of parents meet on a regular basis to plan and prepare. The links in the community are strengthened and those who choose to be part of the Church deepen their understanding.

Make communion something that a family, that a child has to opt into in their own time and you will very quickly find out the ones who actually want to be involved for what it is – part of the journey in the Christian Faith.

Things can’t change fast enough for me. One of my daughters will receive her First Communion next year, and I would far prefer her to wear a pretty dress and not worry about the hype than be dressed in a miniature wedding dress and comparing hair-dos.

Lets put away the farce of Fake Tans and the Limos. Let First Communion be for those who want to take part. Do away with the crap that has built up around it.

The Local Elections

Posted on May 8, 2014 by johnkilleagh

In two weeks time we’re heading for the poles to elect our next round of county Councillors and Members of the European Parliament.

There are a few big changes this year.

Town councils are being abolished, and some councils are being amalgamated. (from 114 local authorities to 31)
The total number of Councillors in Ireland will reduce from 1,627 to 950 (a drop of 677 seats)
With the property tax being earmarked to go to the local councils, they will have their own funding for the first time in about 40 years.

And what do our Councillors do?

Make decisions about how the local budget is spent.
This may be on Housing, Roads, Libraries, Amenities (playgrounds, etc)
Make policy decisions around various local issues
Help people dealing with the bureaucracy of a council

Local councillors can’t make any decision regarding national issues, for example in Education, Health, etc.

So, when we go to the polls on Friday 23rd, what are we voting for?

Well, a lot of us are angry at the way the country has gone, and the narrative goes like this:

‘Fianna Fail fiddled while the whole thing exploded, we voted for Fine Gael and Labour to fix it. Fine Gael because they promised political reform and Labour because we believed they would keep Fine Gael in check (Just in case too much of the blue-shirt gene started showing)

‘Unfortunately, Fine Gael haven’t reformed politics, there were no report cards on under-performing politicians, and very, very few resignations. Labour have supported FEMPI and seem to be a bit too enthusiastic in cutting some areas and I don’t trust the shinners I’ve heard there’s a Green Party, but haven’t seen of them recently, they’ve gone extinct, I think.’

The question now becomes what does this have to do with the Local Elections?

For each of us it is this. Do I vote for the person who will work for my local community/needs/interests or do I work to support a party or a political ideal? And in this case the political ideal may be to shout to the government that ‘enough is enough’. Do I vote against the government candidates just to prove a point? And if so, who do I vote for then?

But, if all politics are local, then is it also important to look at the candidates who have served their communities well, and ask them to keep on doing the same?

I haven’t figured out my own answer to that question yet, but I do need to look at it. The only thing I am sure of is that Saturday 24th will be a very busy day for the pundits.

Photography

Posted on May 6, 2014 by johnkilleagh

One of the things I said in my New Year’s Resolution was that I’d take more photos. And Just a few weeks ago I got a new camera and have been experimenting with it.

This got me thinking about the different cameras I’ve had, so here’s a quick tour through them.

I got my first camera in 1986. Ahem. I was in 5th year in secondary school, and one of the teachers set up a photography club. We had a darkroom and learned how to develop black and white photos. I loved seeing the image materialise on the photographic paper, and the whole process of converting negatives into positive images.

My first camera was a Zenit 11.

It was a heavy machine. And a really, really basic camera. The light meter was external and gave the result on a dial at the left of the camera. You then had to set the camera to whatever film speed you had loaded and adjust shutter and aperture to match.

In other words, totally manual and a great, great teacher in how to photograph.

Such a pity that it was stolen from me on the Tube in London one day!

My second camera was from Vivitar

This, for me, was dead posh. I had received a backdated bonus in work and splashed out on a camera with an external flash, a zoom lens and <gasp> through-the-lens (TTL) light metering. You still had to set the film speed but the lenses were good, and I managed to get some lovely photos with this camera.

Finally, old-age got to this one and the shutter started to fail in 2006. Just about the time that film photography went out.

Next up was my Fujifilm 9600

My first child, Andrea, was born in 2007, and I got this camera a few weeks before her birth. I figured I’d be taking a lot of photos! And yes, I have taken A LOT of photos with this one. The lens is very versatile. It’s my first digital camera, and has been a great workhorse. If you look at other pages in this blog, then the photos are probably taken with this camera.

The downside is that the processor is now getting slow, and the lens quality is not as good as something from Canon or Nikon. So I’ve been itching to get something new, and have saved up for my fourth camera.

And the latest… The Canon EOS 600D

This is my first proper DSLR and the nicest camera I’ve ever had. I really like the speed of it for shooting, the clarity of the lens and the fact that I still have to learn so much in order to use it right.

So. Instead of me writing about education all the time, I’m going to start posting more photos about places and themes.

Maybe for the first time in 40 years I’m actually going to follow through on a New Year’s Resolution!

Have teachers reached breaking point?

Posted on May 6, 2014 by johnkilleagh

A good summary of how things have changed in teaching in a relatively short space of time.

Jumbo Shrimp

“The job satisfaction and goodwill of teachers has been decimated and there’s a feeling that your best will never be good enough- something that never existed before.”

Short days, long holidays; the teaching profession in Ireland was once considered the ideal, offering a perfect balance between work and home life. Drastic cutbacks have since led to a surge in dissatisfaction among teachers who are over-worked and under-paid. Is the profession headed for a crisis? As teachers reach breaking point, we investigate how recent changes have affected teaching attitudes, priorities, morale, and in turn, student’s learning.

“The short days and length of holidays has perpetuated the myth that teaching is an easy job”, says Ciara Mahony, a permanent primary school teacher based in Dublin. “A teacher’s job is far from finished when the school bell goes at the end of the day. During those ‘short days’ a teacher’s brain needs to be…

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Emer O’Kelly Rebuttal

Posted on May 4, 2014 by johnkilleagh

The following was written by Mairéad De Búrca in reply to Emer O’Kelly’s article in the Irish Independent.

I’d like to thank Mairéad for giving me permission to publish her letter here.

John.

I am pleased that the Sindo published my response to Emer O’ Kelly’s unwarranted attack on teachers. However, my letter was edited to remove many criticisms of EOK’s article. I will copy the published letter and then my original letter to show you what I mean. To get the full picture, you should read her article first http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/ruairi-quinn-should-teach-these-wolves-a-lesson-30221231.html

My letter is a point by point rebuttal of her piece.

Published Letter –

MINISTER HAS DONE NOTHING BUT CUT

Madam – Well done to Emer O’Kelly and the Sunday Independent for once again writing hateful bile about teachers. (Sunday Independent, April 27, 2014).

Teachers most certainly do not earn €60k on average per year. The ministers she praises earn multiples of a teacher’s salary and get tax-free expenses and perks. Why not attack them? Teachers pay into their pensions every week for 40 years. Teachers do not have jobs for life. Teachers can be, and are, dismissed. Thousands of teachers have no jobs at all.

The minister is destroying our education system. Teachers try to point this out when they can. Teachers have a duty to point this out. Journalists have this duty too. Minister Quinn is about as far away from being a socialist or a trade unionist as Emer O’Kelly is. He attended private schools. He sent his children to private schools.

He most certainly is not the best Minister for Education, since anybody! He has actually done nothing during his tenure except cut, cut, cut, speak to the media, cut, cut, cut, spin, spin, spin. He is arguably the worst Minister for Education I have ever encountered. He has failed utterly in his oft-stated intention to wrest the control of education away from religious denominations. It is disconcerting that Ms O’Kelly views this complete failure of his as a success.

This minister has not only failed the education system, he has failed Ireland’s children. Of course teachers must call him on that, especially if journalists like Emer O’Kelly fail to do so. I stopped buying the Sindo years ago due to the astounding amount of teacher-bashing in it.

Dr Mairead De Burca,

The full text of my Letter:

Madam,

Well done to Emer O’ Kelly and the Sindo for keeping up your long tradition of poor journalism. Emer, you get 10/10 for writing hateful bile about teachers once again. 10/10 also for not bothering with actual facts. 0/10 however, for accuracy, objectivity, research and journalism, so that’s a FAIL, Emer. Here is a critique of your latest “work”, point by point:

1. Teachers most certainly do not earn 60K on average per year. The Ministers you praise in your article, however, earn multiples of a teacher’s salary and get un-vouched, tax free expenses and perks also. Why don’t you attack them?

2. Teachers pay into their pensions every week for forty years. Ruairi does not. What do you say to him?

3. Teachers do not have jobs for life. Teachers can and are dismissed. Thousands of teachers have no jobs at all.

4. On what basis do you describe the ASTI as the “cream level” of teachers?

5. The Minister in charge of Education is destroying our education system. Teachers try to point this out when they can. Teachers have a duty to point this out. Journalists have this duty too.

6. Minister Quinn is about as far away from being a socialist or a trade unionist as you are, Emer. He attended private schools. He sent his children to private schools. He earns an enormous salary. People call him a champagne socialist. I call him a capitalist.

7. Dignity and grace are not words I would use about Minister Quinn. He spins statistics without grace or dignity to make himself look good. He cuts educational supports to our children without grace or dignity.

8. He most certainly is not the best Minister for Education, since anybody! He has actually done nothing during his tenure except cut, cut, cut, speak to the media, cut, cut, cut, spin, spin, spin….. He is arguably the worst Minister for Education I have ever encountered.

9. I have never heard Minister Quinn tell the truth, as you claim. He spins statistics and reads speeches prepared for him by his many, very well-paid advisors.

10. It is the Minister who continuously self-congratulates himself. He thinks he’s doing a great job, and tells teachers this all the time.

11. He veers between saying our teachers are the best in the world to saying they are not. Make your mind up, Minister.

12. He has failed utterly in his oft-stated intention to wrest the control of education away from Religious denominations. It is disconcerting that you view this complete failure of his as a success, Emer.

13. This Minister has not only failed the education system, he has failed Ireland’s children. Of course teachers must call him on that, especially if journalists like you fail to do so, Emer.

14. As regards the Honours Maths and anti-women gaffs which this man “mis-spoke” in front of INTO members… Emer, please stop trying to defend the indefensible. He, himself, knows he made a mistake saying what he said. The whole country knows it, except you.

15. Andrew Phelan of ASTI has explained his actions very thoroughly on his FB page. Why didn’t you read what he had to say while you researched your own piece, Emer? O that’s right, sorry, I forgot that you don’t “do” research.

16. The new Junior Cycle is under-funded, under-resourced and unplanned. You think that’s good, do you, Emer? Teachers do not. Parents do not.

17. Teachers are the greatest advocates for children and young adults in this country, Emer. You are not. Minister Quinn is not. You could use your position as a journalist to help teachers to advocate for children, Emer.

18. You advise Minister Quinn to emulate Minister Shatter? Really? Do you really believe that anyone should emulate Minister Shatter given the scandals in his Department?

Emer, the least you could do would be to check out a few facts, do a bit of work, before you sit down to your keyboard. I stopped buying the Sindo years ago due to the astounding amount of teacher-bashing in it.

If we have learned anything last week, and again today in the Sindo, it is that some newspapers attract entirely the wrong kind of people into “journalism”.

Yours Etc…

Dr. Mairéad De Búrca.

In defence of teaching History

Posted on May 1, 2014 by johnkilleagh

We really, really need to take on a number of opinions before going ahead with a new Junior Cert programme. I hope the minister will finally listen to teachers like Fintan

Fintan O'Mahony

credit: https://www.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk/p/keep-calm-i-m-a-history-teacher-16/

This is my response to this article from The Irish Times.

You bet Junior-cycle reform remains a contentious topic! You bet many history teachers think it represents a threat to the subject we love!

The problem isn’t the breath of the current syllabus, but that when we were asked a decade ago to clean up the vast course we made recommendations about shortening it. Those recommendations are sitting on a shelf gathering dust somewhere in Marlborough St. That’s what happens when you consult teachers, sure you’d be better off not asking them for their opinions at all!

Teachable moments come thick and fast in history class, we know well how to turn dry topics like Gothic architecture or French revolutionary peasants (to pick two from today alone) into gold for students. Long gone are the days of ‘learn the textbook of by heart girls and boys’. We use…

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The Minister’s Real Speech

Posted on April 22, 2014 by johnkilleagh

It’s A Tuesday in Easter…

Teachers, it’s a pleasure for me to have the chance to speak to & berate you today.

This is my fourth year addressing you, and I’m determined to make headlines today. Enough of Man U holding the limelight today.

Now, where was I? Oh yeah, the primary lot.

Yes. We’re in a hole. i’d like to blame the other lot, but I’ve used that line enough already. So let’s talk about how you lot are underqualified. First up, you only had to do three years in college to train as primary teachers, I’m changing that. Plus, you lot aren’t good enough at maths. Lets see, a starting point is that you’ll have to do honours maths for the leaving. You see, girls are lazy. You’re going to drop honours maths after the Junior Cert if we give you half a chance. So, you have to keep it on. So there.

Second. I’m a bit upset. All the women in here and I don’t even get a cup of tae? What’s the point in having a feminised profession if you lot can’t even put on the kettle?

To address this, I’m changing the law. We already have FEMPI, but I’m now changing the education act to get rid of teachers that are sub-standard. And to keep an eye on these standards I’m the one who sets the standards. There. That should reassure ye.

Now, about this religious malarkey. I got an idea yesterday. How’s about we put the religion classes at the start of the day, or at the end? I know, I know. You then have students who have no room to go to. Look, I know I’m taking as many teachers out of the system as possible, but can’t you just play musical chairs with them. And yes, I do include all you lot who’d be in one-teacher-schools-if-I-get-my-way.

I’m not anti-religion. If it makes you feel any better, I’ll quote Hans Kung. There, see? But I will take the chance to boast that my first full day on the job was the day I started to look for ways to get the church out of as many schools as possible.

Remember I’m not anti-religion. We must respect the rights of families who want their children to be given a religions education. That’s in the constitution. Unfortunately.

Later that day…

You lot are the secondary teachers, yeah?

First up. Have you got around to telling me what you want yet? Don’t bother with that resources rubbish. I want to know what you want so that you will do what I want.

Here it is. Let’s work to support inclusion and giving students a chance. Let’s not let that bit about the guidance counsellers come between friends. Come on. You know that wasn’t a real job. If the kids really cared then they’d find out what their subject choice and college options were. I mean, that worked for me and my buddies in the bish.

Now. the JCSA. Let’s be clear. We all agree that the current Junior Cert needs reform. The best advice that I can get (while avoiding teachers) is that my pet-project is the way to go. What we have isn’t working, and I’m the boss, so what I say goes. Yes, I will pretend to keep listening to you lot, but consultation is not spelled n-e-g-o-t-i-a-t-i-o-n.

Now it seems to me that your unions don’t like what I have in mind. So, I think that they aren’t doing their job. They seem to think that you are not up to the task of working over 60 hours a week. I say let’s prove them wrong. I’ve already gotten away with taking about 20% of your pay, forcing you do do S&S and adding 33 hours of meetings. Let’s face it, it’s not as if I trust you to work unless I get the principals to roll-call you after hours.

To re-enforce that point I’m changing the law and the Teaching Council will be allowed to continue the beatings until morale improves.

I look forward to seeing you all next year. By then I hope that you’ll be too knackered to kick up a fuss.

The Aftermath of a Musical

Posted on April 9, 2014 by johnkilleagh

In March our school held its musical, songs from Grease. I wrote down some of my thoughts about it here. Today, I’m in class and what’s next is a bit of a free for all with my TY class, where I’m asking for their memories of the show. Just for the hell of it, I’m attaching their stage names to their answers!

What is your strongest memory of doing the musical?

‘Eugene’ getting to do my speech – loved doing it!

‘Sandy’ I loved working out Scene 5, and Scene 2. They were good fun to do, some great songs.

‘Rizzo’ – my song. Working together, having a laugh. Roger’s ‘Mooning’ song with Jan. My wig was very hot. I was sweating under it.

One of the male cast ‘Sonny’ was shorter than the others, & was flung into the air a few times.

‘Frenchie’ – all the rehearsals. My wig made me look like somthing out of ‘LazyTown’.

Building friendships with the directors. Jim & Co. from CADA

The Friday show was a surprise & one of the teachers had to fill in the role of ‘Frenchie’ at the last minute.

‘Kenickie’ – Jim (The Assistant Director) was a top man. Gave you confidence and got you into it. He treated everyone nice.#

‘Doody’ – The opening night stands out. We were all giddy backstage, but once the call came for 5 minutes we got all serious & everyone did their part. I really remember the end of the show and we all started congratulating each other afterwards.

How much hard work went into it?

Everyone – lots & lots.

Learning the script was very hard.

Fast costume changes were difficult

You had to work during the mid-term break and over St. Patrick’s weekend. How did you feel about that?

‘Rizzo’ didn’t like it, but it was worth it in the end.

‘Sandy’ it was grand. Just took it was worth it at the end.

Coming in during the breaks when your friends were off was hard.

What was the scariest part for you?

Doing the show in front of the school on the Friday.

The auditions were scary! (a lot of people said this)

‘Kenickie’ – my first time singing on stage was scary.

Tell me about the feeling of going on stage.

Nervous for some

‘Eugene’ says he wasn’t nervous!

‘Sandy’ I loved going on stage, nerve wrecking, but I loved it.

‘Doody’ – it was my first time on stage, nervous, afraid to mess up – and I never sang in front of people before.

It’s now nearly one month later. What has the show meant for you?

We should have got a reward for all our hard work.

It built up my confidence in front of people.

We all get along better. It has made us closer.

Surprised – I didn’t think I’d be able to get up on stage & speak.

The main director is scary!

I think there should be a musical every year.

‘Kenickie’ ‘Sandy’ & ‘Doody’ – it was the best thing in fourth year, made the year and it brought me much closer to a lot of the cast. NO REGRETS

Has it surprised you how much work has to go into gettting something on stage?

YES (from everyone). The rehearsals went on for about 8 weeks. Especially in the little amout of time we had. 8 weeks really flew.

You managed to combine script, songs and dance in some scenes.

‘Rizzo’ I preferred doing the dancing & singing. I didn’t really like the acting part.

‘Kenickie’ – it made the scenes, but it was much more difficult to do. The acting was my favourite part.

‘Sandy’ I loved the singing and dancing. Script was ok, but definitely preferred the singing and dancing.

And, from the backstage crew…

It was really, really dark!

Trying to move stuff backstage without making noise was difficult.

It was hard work.

Fin

And there you have it. A little experiment during class with a group of tech-savvy fourth year students. They loved doing the show, and I think really got the reward out of doing something so different to ‘normal’ class work.

And now, they can go home for 2 weeks of Easter Holidays. Well done guys.

Your words won’t hurt me

Posted on April 7, 2014 by johnkilleagh

HICKEY'S WORLD

I’ve been called ‘monkey’ many times. I’ve studied all my pictures and, honestly, I don’t look like one. I haven’t got a tail either, and as for being able to swing from trees – I never tried it as a child and it’s too dangerous now that I’ve reached the ripe young age of 60.

Of course it hurt to hear the word those first few times. I was younger then, more easily wounded by words hurled at me by others. I also had to endure monkey gestures from other youngsters. It was part of the price for looking different, for not fitting into the ‘normal’ world.

I was called ‘scarface’, ‘apeman’, ‘Dracula’, ‘Frankenstein’, ‘monster’. Some of the other names aren’t fit for a blog, but you get the drift. I tried not to let the pain show, but occasionally I couldn’t stop the tears, even if they were shed…

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John Hurley

A few rambling thoughts

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