This article is from page 18 of the 2014-02-18 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 18 JPG
MIKE O’Connell said he went mad when work dried up a few years ago. A Limerick man who now lives in Ennis, Mike previously spent 12 years in the Army before working with Pan-American airlines.
When that ended, Mike worked briefly as a taxi driver before that too dried up. “I used detest going up to sign on. It used to break my heart. I’d have avoided it if I could have,” he recalls.
Salvation came in the form of an invitation to attend the Adult Education Centre where Mike enrolled in a two-year community care course.
He hasn’t looked back. “I’ve always dealt with people in my other jobs so I decided to go for community care and I’m glad I did because it opened my eyes to a lot of things that are changing,” he says.
“The ambition for everyone here is to get a job but even if you don’t, you learn so much.”
Like her classmate, mother of four Margaret O’Riordan had been out of education for 40 years before enrolling in adult education.
“I always had this feeling that I lost out a bit on education because I got married so young,” explains Margaret. “I felt I always would like to go back to education. I always had that in my head.”
Margaret, who previously worked in Spec Savers and Dunnes Stores and volunteered with local community groups, admits she found the prospect of returning to the classroom a daunting one.
“I was worried, really worried that I wouldn’t be able to keep up. I’d been 40 years out of education and I though, God, how am I going to learn all this? But step by step, we did it,” she says.
Both Margaret and Mike say their experiences of adult education have been hugely positive. “They have a saying here, education but not as you know it,” says Mike.
“It gives you confidence and builds up your self-esteem,” agrees Margaret.
For anyone unsure or anxious about returning to education, Margaret has a simple message – just go for it.
Mike says, “Do your day. Treat it like a job. After the first two weeks which are helter skelter, it will calm down. Give it the two weeks and then you get into a routine. I could never go back to sitting at home wondering what am I going to do all day.
“I’m sure there are people at home out of work who are mad to do something with their lives. This is the place to start it,” he adds.