A strict disciplinarian "who doesn't indulge his cubs", Headmaster of Blackrock College Alan MacGinty also displays fierce loyalty towards his charges, both in the classroom and on the sports field, and an unshakable commitment to the "kingdom" of Blackrock
OVER six foot tall and sharp-featured, Alan MacGinty clutches his jacket closed as he paces purposefully from one corridor to the next. He teaches, he coaches rugby, he manages building projects and runs the show. He's known as Big Al, and principal MacGinty certainly casts a long shadow over Ireland's most famous boys' school, Blackrock College in Dublin.
MacGinty's not running a business, but some say he'd be better suited to the cut-and-thrust of commerce than to the pastorality of schooling.
He's competitive, driven and has a hand in everything that happens in his school, and much that happens outside it. After eight years as principal, he has modernised the campus, weathered media storms and streamlined his vision for Blackrock College.
Alan MacGinty is a past pupil of the prestigious private Catholic school, which has produced some of Ireland's favourite sons: Dr John Charles McQuaid, Eamon de Valera and Bob Geldof amongst them. MacGinty's commitment to the college is beyond question. "His is not a personal drive, but an unshakable commitment to the 'kingdom' of Blackrock," as one other school principal put it.
When MacGinty took over the principalship in 2000, the kingdom was at a reckoning point. The college was seeing off its last clerical leader, Fr Cormac O'Brolchain, a member of the Holy Ghost Order which had managed the school for 140 years. The Order had just established a new company, Des Places Educational Association, to act as patron to its colleges in Ireland. All Holy Ghost schools would soon have boards of management, mostly comprised of lay people. The era of clerical management at Blackrock was drawing to a close.
Interested parties wondered how the first lay principal would define the ethos of Blackrock. His vision soon became apparent. "The new board of management came looking for results, and MacGinty is results-driven," says one commentator. "He gives priority to achievement, both in the classroom and on the sports field. He is unashamedly competitive."
MacGinty has nettled other educators by publishing tallies of his students' Leaving Cert results on the school website. Like a managing director reporting to his shareholders, MacGinty keeps the board happy.
Also a talented rugby coach, MacGinty never takes his eye off the trophy case, according to one of his peers in the world of school rugby. "He wouldn't think twice about signing up a student from another school if they were talented on the pitch.
Rugby still reigns supreme, a dominance which rankles with some parents. Sometimes, they say, this is to the disadvantage of those wishing to participate in other sports at the highest level. That said, the school has had notable success in other codes including, for example, tennis, golf, athletics, soccer and swimming.
MacGinty's competitive streak has paid dividends for the school. "He has a great love for the college, and has pushed tirelessly to improve and modernise it over the last eight years," says a colleague. "He leads from the front and has incredible energy. He's in the school from 7.30am to 7.30pm. Not a building has been left untouched by him."
ALAN MACGINTY tends to shun the media, despite, or perhaps because of, the fact that his school attracts more public interest than most. Blackrock has been the target of some very negative coverage over the past 10 years, and his response has been to draw the blinds.
"We're all media-shy after the death of Brian Murphy and the way it was reported," says a senior colleague. "There was such a media run on the story — it goes on to this day. In times of trauma, your first instinct is to protect the children in the school from exposure."
The day after 18-year-old Brian Murphy died outside the Dublin nightclub Annabel's in 2000, MacGinty took statements from two of the former Blackrock students involved in the fracas that resulted in the teenager's death.
His actions drew criticism from media commentators, who suggested that it traversed Garda territory. Those who support him say he was simply helping two young men who turned to him in panic.
"He went through a rough time during the Brian Murphy case," says one supporter. "Blackrock is not a perfect school, but it is unfairly maligned. The reporting at the time seemed to be suggesting that Blackrock fosters that kind of mentality. That's just not fair."
While maintaining a low public profile - he is notoriously media-shy - MacGinty's profile in the school is imposing. He gets involved in student life beyond the gates. Former students describe his intercession in incidents outside the school involving Blackrock boys. It has been suggested that he goes too far in his efforts to protect the Blackrock reputation. However, this reputation comes under attack more often than that of the average school.
Incidents involving Blackrock students have been pounced on by some media outlets, delighted at the chance to have a go at the school that inspired Ross O'Carroll Kelly, a characterisation that, for some, epitomises the worst excesses of the Celtic Tiger.
However, no one could accuse MacGinty of indulging his cubs. "He's a strict disciplinarian with a genuinely Christian ethos," says one parent. "He's very clear with the boys, and in a school that size, you have to be. He demands high standards, in academics and in rugby, and despite the propaganda, he insists that his players behave on the field. He has been known to take on a referee if he thinks that a student is getting away with unfair play."
MacGinty has been a member of staff at Blackrock for three decades, and has a BA and HDip from UCD. He also has a master's in educational management from the Open University. He is said to be a talented maths teacher and his grinds were must-haves before he took up the role as principal. Although he has coached a number of successful junior and senior cup rugby teams, his background is in soccer.
Those who knew him in his yonger days say his disciplinarian approach came later. He is said to have lived life to the full when he studied in UCD. "He has a native wildness about him," said one of his peers.
These days, he takes a very strong line on student behaviour, especially in the area of alcohol and the responsibility of parents to keep their children in check. This austerity jars with the Ross O'Carroll Kelly world of pampered jocks sipping Mojitos.
He's old-school, says one commentator, but he's changed the atmosphere at the college. "Unlike his predecessor, Fr O'Brolchain, MacGinty does not take a pastoral line on leadership. He's hard to approach, and he doesn't suffer fools gladly. He's exceptionally intelligent, but not what I would describe as a peoples person."
MacGinty on Blackrock
ALAN MacGinty's vision for Blackrock is articulated on the college's website.
On ethos:Tradition is one of the pillars upon which the College is built. A strong Catholic ethos has always been an intrinsic component of school life. In Blackrock, faith is nurtured. A religious and moral education is seen as fundamental to the development of the individual.
On academic results:A solid performance by the class of 2008. Congratulations to the boys, their parents and teachers on their results.
15 Pupils scored over 540 points, the equivalent of six As.
35 pupils earned more than 500 points.
Three pupils achieved the maximum of 600 points, one of whom recieved seven A1s
51.3% secured over 400 points, and 88.1% achieved 300 points or more.
Blackrock College is a mixed-ability school, and I particularly salute the achievements of those boys whose results may not grab a newspaper headline, but nonetheless provide satisfaction and pride in a job well done.
On protecting the Blackrock reputation:Good conduct is expected at all times not only in school but also in the surrounding area . . . A pupil, or a pupil party to a group, who brings the College Community into disrepute whilst under the jurisdiction of the College, is subject to sanction. Sanctions such as detention or suspension will be imposed for serious offences — proportionate to the offence committed.
On the role of the school in the life of the student:Ideally, learning inside and outside school should be so entwined that we cannot tell where one ends and the other begins."
