‘Very few people in the county would have made a greater contribution to vocational education than Morgan Dunne’
SEAN ÓG DOYLE PAYS TRIBUTE TO LONG-TIME FRIEND AND COLLEAGUE, THE LATE MORGAN DUNNE, WHO PASSED AWAY LAST MONTH
The first time I saw Morgan Dunne in action was many years ago in a hurling match in Bellefield. I didn’t know him at the time and I cannot remember what team he was playing with but I recall vividly a slim young man racing down one side of the pitch towards the goal on a solo run and his blonde tresses streaming behind him. He avoided some tackles with an adept side-step and it struck me that he wasn’t into the physicality of the game; but of course he was so fast on his feet he could avoid the more robust tackles.
I later I got to know him when both of us were members of the staff of St. Senan’s Hospital. During the fifties and sixties many bright young people had joined the staff of the hospital including many well-known hurlers and footballers. It was also a hotbed of many diverse political opinions. Some of us became involved with republicanism and joined a resurgent Sinn Féin. Morgan Dunne was the Sinn Féin candidate in the Wexford constituency in the 1961 General Election and received 1,304 votes. I travelled to many a church gate with him throughout the county during the campaign. He always brought the soapbox with him and the minute Mass was over Morgan was in action; he was an excellent public speaker, eloquent and fiery, bordering on being a demagogue.
I remember one public meeting, from memory; I think it was in Blackwater. Morgan was on his soapbox waxing eloquent about all the executions carried out by the Free State Government during the Civil War. I noticed about half of the listeners were walking away. He then came up to the Second World War years and attacked the then Government over executing members of the I.R.A. I now became aware that the remainder of his listeners had drifted away and Morgan and I were left all alone. Apparently, the Fine Gael supporters got annoyed with him first and later the Fianna Fáil adherents deserted us. I said to Morgan on the way home that he wasn’t going a good way to garner votes and I must admit that afterwards he changed tack. Later on he became disillusioned with the abstentionist policy of Sinn Féin and joined the Labour Party.
Morgan took a great interest in his nursing career and was a man before his time with innovative ideas. He got himself seconded for special training in caring for the intellectually challenged. I believe it was in Celbridge, Co. Kildare that he received the special instruction and when he returned to St. Senan’s he proceeded to set up a Special Therapy Unit; it was really an Industrial Therapy Unit and provided certain services for outside businesses which worked very successfully. I was given the task of archiving the orders and keeping an eye on invoices and accounts. Clients that were previously sitting around different wards with nothing much to do were suddenly occupied and it was remarkable how they applied themselves to the different tasks. Yes, Morgan was a conscientious employee with progressive ideas.
For years Morgan was Chairman of St. Senan’s Hospital Branch of the Irish Transport and General Workers’ Union which in 1990 merged with the Workers’ Union to become S.I.P.T.U. I was Branch Secretary and we then used to negotiate on behalf of the staff with Mr. T. F. Broe, Wexford County Manager, because the County Council had responsibility for Health until 1970 when Health Boards were set up. Both of us were present at the Official Opening of Liberty Hall in 1965.
Morgan was a Member of Enniscorthy Urban District Council for many years and was its Chairman on two occasions, 1975 and 1976. He was the Council’s representative on the County Wexford Vocational Education Committee. He remained the Council’s representatives on the V.E.C. over the years in spite of the changing political make-up of the Council after each Local Election. He was an excellent Chairman and could control a meeting with considerable authority aided with a sound sense of local government protocol and procedures. It could be said that he was a shrewd political operator. I do believe that the County V.E.C. was his favourite body as it became his speciality and his contribution to its success in educating our young people was enormous. He treated his membership of the V.E.C. very seriously and Enniscorthy Urban Council could not have a more worthy delegate representing them on such a democratic educational body.
He was a member of the V.E.C. from 1967 until its demise in 2013. He was honoured with a Long Service Presentation the day that Micheál Martin officially opened Kilmuckridge Vocational College. He was very much occupied with educational initiatives in the vocational sector such as V.T.O.S., Youth Reach and Back to Education. Morgan was very involved in the provision of new schools such as the Vocational College on the Milehouse Road in Enniscorthy and the Vocational College in Kilmuckridge and actively supported the purchase of sports facilities in Enniscorthy, Adamstown, Kilmuckridge and Bridgetown. He was an enthusiastic member of the Boards of Management of both Enniscorthy and Bunclody Colleges and acted as Chairman of both on a number of occasions.
Very few people in the county would have made a greater contribution to vocational education than Morgan Dunne. For many years during Morgan’s membership of the V.E.C. his cousin, James J. Dunne, was its Chief Executive Officer, who was equally innovative.
In 1968 Enniscorthy Golf Club denied membership to two Enniscorthy men which resulted in a great furore throughout the town. National television, radio, Irish and foreign newspapers got involved in the story. Eventually a public meeting was convened for the Market Square which was addressed by Morgan Dunne agus mé féin. A very large attendance turned up as I believe they were expecting names to be named of the golf club members who voted against membership being granted to the two men involved. Names weren’t named as we hadn’t a clue who had voted for and against. Even if we did know we wouldn’t have named names anyway. Lee Trevino had won the American Open Golf Title the same year and it was stated at the meeting if he had been born in Enniscorthy he wouldn’t be eligible to become a member of the Golf Club due to his very humble beginnings.
How relationships have changed; Enniscorthy Golf Club is a much more egalitarian institution nowadays. Its policy regarding membership is far more enlightened and the Club is a great asset to the whole area. Morgan Dunne became a very valued member of the Club and eventually became its President. His considerable contribution was recognised when a large number of the Club Membership formed a Guard of Honour and accompanied his funeral cortege.
Morgan’s sudden passing came about on 23 October 2018 as he was on his way home from the Golf Club after his usual morning coffee and tête-à-têtes. He was in his 91st year.
I have many stories and incidents involving Morgan that I could relate but this is not the proper medium for such rare disclosures. He was a proud Courtnacuddy man with a wry sense of humour. He could keep a very straight face when he was attempting to provoke someone to get annoyed about something trivial.
He wasn’t really the hail-fellow-wellmet style of person and he didn’t possess an ingratiating manner. Back slapping extravagant geniality was not one of his strong points. He could be excellent company and had a wide knowledge of current affairs. He was quite amiable without the histrionics. I enjoyed his company within many different settings. Morgan was a loyal family man and he and his wife Molly, had eleven of a family. Molly predeceased him, along with two of their children, Eileen and Seán, which must have caused much emotional distress.
His contribution to the wider community over the years with his involvement with public affairs particularly in the field of vocational education was immense and only recently I was speaking to people who were involved with him in the education field and they had nothing but the height of praise for him. Anything he set his mind to absorbed his whole attention and his interest wasn’t easily diverted; he generally pressed on regardless of any impediments that might hinder progress. Many were not aware of his achievements as he wasn’t one to blow his own trumpet.