Michael MacSweeney, who died on November 2nd, aged 82, was a lifelong crusader for improvements to the Primary Education Service and champion of improved pay and conditions for teachers.
Born on August 10th 1927, he could hardly have been other than a teacher. Both his parents were primary teachers, his father being principal of Moycullen National School. Two of his brothers, Sean and Denis, and one of his sisters, Eileen, also spent their careers in the profession.
Michael MacSweeney was one of a generation of teachers who grew up and worked during the regressive, repressive 1940s, 1950s and 1960s when teachers were poorly paid. Many worked in appalling conditions with large classes under Victorian management and Departmental regimes. He was one of the leaders of the Irish National Teachers Organisation who set out to change things.
During his early teaching career in the Claddagh he came into direct contact with the grinding poverty of the time, leaving him with a strong commitment to improving the lot of the deprived. He was centrally involved in the special committee on disadvantage set up by the INTO to highlight the need for positive discrimination. This eventually led to State intervention and considerable improvement in the lot of disadvantaged schools.
He began his teaching career in Duniry National School and also taught in the Claddagh before being appointed principal at Briar Hill. He was an able hurler, having played on the Galway minor team. At Briar Hill he coached pupils who were later members of the famous Castlegar hurling club, some of whom went to play at intercounty level.
When it was decided in the late 1960s to open a school to service the new housing development at Mervue, he was chosen as its first principal. He served in that capacity until his retirement in January 1993.
As co-founder of the Galway branch of the Mentally Handicapped Association, he was chosen on the committee which reported on the need for a psychological service for schools, leading to its establishment.
The highlight of his career was his year as president of the INTO, beginning in April 1980. His position presented him with the opportunity to bring to fruition many of the projects to which he had devoted his life.
The major issue of the time was teachers' pay. He campaigned throughout the country to highlight the salaries paid to teachers, which had fallen out of line with those paid to comparable professionals. The salary review and settlement of 1981 afforded him immense satisfaction. It seemed to him to justify the enormous commitment and energy expended over the years.
Michael was an accomplished golfer who played off a single-figure handicap. The members of Galway Golf Club elected him captain in 1984. He reciprocated by compiling and publishing a history of the club to celebrate its centenary year in 1995.
He was great company, and he brightened many a dull day with anecdotes of his various brushes with authority. His stories, told with a characteristic toss of his head, were without rancour or bitterness.
The Irish language was one of his abiding interests. "We must bring the language outside the school gate. it is the responsibility of society in general," he said.
Michael MacSweeney is survived by his wife Mary, sons Gary, Donard and Ross, daughters Deirdre and Denise, brothers Sean, Denis and Dermot and sisters Eileen and Concepta.