Corkman John Bermingham, who died on November 1st aged 79, dedicated much of his life to making life better for the mentally handicapped, not just in his native county, but nationally and internationally. He was the founder of COPE, which now provides services for more than 1,600 people in the Cork region.
Known to his friends as JB, John Bermingham was involved in local politics for 25 years, including a period as Lord Mayor of Cork in 1968. His political career began in the 1950s when he was elected a Fine Gael member of the Cork Corporation and Cork County Council and subsequently a member of the South Cork Board of Public Assistance. According to friends he forfeited the opportunity of further political advancement to concentrate on the issue which was the focal point of his life - providing services for the mentally handicapped.
John Bermingham was born on August 30th, 1921, and reared in the Cork city suburb of Blackpool. He was educated in Blackpool National School and as a teenager played hurling and was involved with the local boxing club. His working life began with a job in D & A O'Leary, a firm of printers in Cork. In 1944, he married Hannah O'Sullivan, from Gerald Griffin Street.
In 1956, there was a devastating outbreak of polio in Cork city and county. At the time there were few support and rehabilitation services for those afflicted. John Bermingham and the late Dean of Cork, the Very Rev James Bastible, founded the voluntary Cork Polio Association to provide facilities for those recovering from the after-effects of the disease. In 1959, he became its full-time secretary.
Together with a small group of professionals from the fields of medicine, education, law, insurance and engineering, who gave their time free, along with support from the public, the association filled the much-needed gap which existed.
As a member of the South Cork Board of Public Assistance, John Bermingham also became aware of the chronic absence of services and facilities for the mentally handicapped. In 1959, with the polio epidemic waning, John Bermingham and his colleagues made the resources of the Cork Polio Association available to the mentally handicapped, beginning with a small group of children aged seven years and under.
This evolved into the COPE Foundation, which is now an internationally recognised voluntary body providing facilities for people with mental handicap and their families. COPE provides services to more than 1,600 people in the Cork region, with a "cradle to the grave" ethos. COPE has a staff of around 600 and an annual budget of more than £20 million.
Following in John Bermingham's footsteps, his daughter Maura Nash was recently appointed chief executive of COPE, while another daughter Joan Tassie, is also involved. His son Brian, is currently deputy Lord Mayor of Cork. In 1961, John Bermingham became a founder member of the National Association for the Mentally Handicapped of Ireland and was president between 1982 and 1984. In 1960, he helped establish the Union of Voluntary Organisations for the Handicapped, which he also chaired for a period.
He served as chief executive and chairman of COPE and his colleagues remember a man who inspired and encouraged and was fierce in his defence of those he represented.
John Bermingham also founded Cork Mental Welfare, an association which he chaired for 30 years, and was a member of the Southern Health Board and the National Rehabilitation Board for a number of years. He served as vice-president of Rehabilitation International, and was a member of the European Network HELIOS Programme.
During the years he received a number of honours: a People of the Year Award in 1984; in 1990 the Roger Feidelson Award, (Ravenswood International awards - Royal Society of Medicine); in 1995, he was Cork Person of the Year; and in 1996 he won the Rehabilitation International Presidential award. In 1997, he was conferred with the freedom of the city by the then Lord Mayor of Cork Alderman Jim Corr - the 45th person to be conferred with that honour. Uniquely for two people from the same organisation, Dean Bastible received the same honour some years previously.
Outside work John Bermingham enjoyed a round of golf and according to friends was a man of endless energy, who seemed to have time for everything.
He is survived by his wife Hannah and five children, Anne, Brian, Maura, Claire and Joan.
John Bermingham: born 1921; died, November 2000