This article is from page 55 of the 2008-04-15 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 55 JPG
THE significance of Dr Hillery’s period as Minister for Education is often overlooked with credit for the modernisation of learning in Ire- land more commonly attributed to his flamboyant successor, Donagh O’ Malley.
However, Hillery, a man of im- mense intellect with a radical vision of Ireland’s future social and eco-
nomic possibilities, set out a blue- print which the energetic and forceful O’Malley prosecuted to full effect.
The extent of Hillery’s social radi- calism can be seen in a fascinating address he made to the Dail on March 23, 1960, in which he signalled his resolve to shift Irish education policy in an egalitarian direction.
His belief that the second-level system was regressive was captured in a simple but profound objective:
“Every child of sufficient talent, be they poor or rich, in any type of school should have the opportunity of climbing right to the top of the educational ladder.
“The nation needs the services of all the talent it can find.”
Hillery identified what he called “a missing rung in our educational lad- der” which denied advanced learning to those of a vocational orientation.
His idea would soon turn concrete
with the construction of the first of the country’s regional technical col- efexere
He went on to dismiss arguments against pouring money into Ireland’s under-funded universities lest it lead to too many graduates; casting aside pessimism he countered that invest- ment was “a calculated risk we must take if we believe that the country has a future”.
Later, as the first Minister for La-
bour, Hillery underpinned the link between education and Irish eco- nomic growth by instigating a policy founded on the idea that the State should help people to obtain the skills to avoid or climb out of unem- jo) Keyyaneteael
For this and other major aspects of Ireland’s educational infrastructure that have helped build the country to what it is today, Dr Hillery deserves Keeble