Contributing to a century of Cant

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION: The Irish Vocational Education Association celebrates its centenary this year, and though the association has reached this impressive age, it has already been pipped to the post by one of its own, Longford man Peter Greene, who turns 102 this June and is still teaching.

Greene began work almost 80 years ago, when he got his first permanent job as a primary school teacher in St Joseph's, Lislea, Co Longford.

He worked in in Longford until 1958 when he took up the position of principal of Coole National School in Co Westmeath.

Most recently, he has been working as a volunteer with St Mel's Traveller Training Centre in Longford town, which is run under the auspices of Longford VEC. He has always been interested in Cant, the traditional language of the Traveller community, he says, and through St Mel's he is helping to pass on his knowledge to a new generation.

"Teaching Cant is a labour of love for me and it's great to be free to do it," says Greene.

From a young age, Greene has also been interested in preserving the storytelling tradition of the Traveller community and over the years he has made significant contributions to the archives of the UCD folklore department under his Irish name, Padraic Mac Gréine.

The lives of the younger people attending the centre are very different from those of their ancestors. "The Travellers of the 1920s and 1930s had a simpler life - they were tradespeople and much of that has been forgotten," says Greene.