The People's College is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The college was the brainchild of the late Ruaidhri Roberts who was to become the general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions.

Roberts had a lifelong commitment to adult education and to workers' education in particular. As a young man he had been impressed by the Workers' Education Associations which had been established in Britain at the beginning of the century and he felt that something similar could be established in this country.

A larger-than-life character, Roberts died in 1986. Educated by the Jesuits, he had a slightly patrician air and a booming bass voice. His favourite party piece was a funny recitation about antics in the jungles of the Congo. At first glance he must have seemed an unusual advocate of workers' education in the Dublin of the Forties but he was not one to be easily fazed. He gathered around him representatives of a variety of unions including the INTO and the ASTI and established the People's College in October 1948.

It was not an easy task. At that time, the Catholic Church held a vice-like grip on education and was fearful that any attempt at workers' education would lead to the importation of socialist values into Irish society. There were many opponents of the fledgling college, the most notable being the late Dr Alfred O'Rahilly, president of UCC. He initiated and continued a campaign against the college through the columns and editorials of The Catholic Standard. The fear of communism was great and no opportunity was missed to portray the nascent college as a threat to Catholic faith and morals.

It must be remembered that this was the time of Noel Browne and the Mother and Child Scheme when the influence of the Church was greatest. In hindsight, the Church need not have worried.

The People's College has always enjoyed the full support of the ICTU and also receives support from its 18 affilated unions and the Department of Education and Science. Since 1969 the college has been under the direction of Sheila Conroy, former chairperson of RTE and life-long trade union activist. She is assisted by Fionnuala Richardson as education director and Alice Somers as administrative secretary.

THE COLLEGE has been affiliated to the International Federation of Worker's Education Associations (IFWEA) since 1972 and Sheila was first elected to its executive committee in 1974. The president of IFWEA, Dan Gallin, paid warm tribute to Sheila Conroy at the commencement of the 50th anniversary celebrations in the Gresham Hotel, Dublin, last week.

Others paying tribute to the college were the Minister for Education and Science, Micheal Martin, and the general secretary of ICTU, Peter Cassells, who said that the colleges commitment to life-long learning has enhanced the lives of many during the past 50 years. Nobody can doubt the contribution made by the People's College to the cultural and educational life of Dublin and which it will hopefully continue to make into the next millennium.