06 Dec Past Pupils Evening – Welcome
Past Pupils Gathering in Colaiste Éanna 5th December 2013
Words of welcome from the Principal………….
Welcome to all Past Pupils of Colaiste Éanna. It is terrific to see so many year groups represented here. Men were in the first class group in 1967 to guys who left in 2013 and all the 47 years in between.
My name is Brendan Mc Cauley and I was appointed Principal here in August 2011. I’m the sixth principal and I‘ve very aware of being a steward of a very fine tradition and legacy established by our first principal Bro Mahady , who died in 2006 and Bro Hynes, whose health is not good at present. Steward of the legacy left Bro Dooley, Mr Vaughan and Mr O Sullivan. I’m also delighted to welcome your teachers, those who have retired and those who still labour at the chalk face.
I firmly believe that a vibrant Past Pupils Union is essential for such a fine school like Coláiste Éanna. It’s not too dramatic to say that it is part of the life blood of a good school. I know a lot of you were wondering if there is a catch – is this about fund raising – and I can absolutely assure that it is not. You will not be asked to contribute funds to the school or neither will your company. All past pupils associations and unions in the country will tell you that it is a very inefficient way of raising funds for a school.
The reason why a vibrant Past Pupils Union is so essential to my mind is four fold…….
- To have a large group of ambassadors or champions for Coláiste Éanna in the local, national and international community is so important. And you and your class mates are in every corner of commercial and professional activity – there are the obvious stand out people in sport, journalism, public administration and business, but wouldn’t it be great if every Past Pupil of Coláiste Éanna in whatever forum they find themselves and where ever school and education are being spoken about – and those conversations happen all the time –was to say “that a GREAT SCHOOL”.
- To have a network of supports for our pupils when they are looking for career advice or work experience and also to have a network for recent past pupils who are in university or college and who are looking for such advice.
- To have a readymade Coláiste Éanna network for yourselves within which to do business.
- Finally that Past Pupils would choose to send their sons to our school and thereby help continue and develop the ethos of this fine school established by the Christian Brothers and thus be a repository of our corporate memory.
Such is my belief in the importance of Past Pupils we have changed our Admission policy to give sons of Past Pupils priority.
I hope you will avail of the opportunity to take a walk around the school and maybe retrace steps down memory lane but also to see the fine school that has been developed by you and your teachers over the years. Just a few words of thanks. A great thank you to the steering committee that has done so much work to make this evening a reality, to Dave Grant our caretaker and our Deputy Principal, Ms Susan Mc Cabe who as ever gave 110% in preparing for this evening and our Transition Year boys who served this evening. These lads are all travelling to Calcutta in India next February and will be flying the Coláiste Éanna flag there as part of our India Immersion Programme.
Gentlemen – you are welcome. This is a fine school. You have so much to be proud of, not just your own personal achievements but also you are part of making Coláiste Éanna being what it is today.