Mr Daly goes to Washington

I was the second of four boys in the family to go to St Joseph's Boys National School in Terenure, Dublin. There was a two-year gap between us all, so three of the four of us were in the school at the same time. We lived between Churchtown and Dundrum so it wasn't a local school, but our grandmother lived in Rathgar, which was in walking distance, and we were able to call down to her after school.

One of my strong memories is of going home from school. We used to pass the Terenure laundry, where the Sunday World is now. I remember it well because the smoke that came from the laundry used to get up your nostrils. We used to walk up the lane there and wait for the bus outside the synagogue in Terenure and sit on the top deck. I remember that bit well, going to and from school with my brothers.

I was in primary school from 1959 to '65. I remember the Kennedy era well. There was a teacher there, Mr Daly, who'd been to America a few times and he knew people in the Kennedy administration. I remember we were really awestruck afterwards when he came back telling us what Washington was like and what Kennedy was like. So I was in primary school when JFK was shot. The news came through in the evening and I was at home doing my homework. I guess most of us remember that time rather sadly - but I always associate Mr Daly with JFK and remember him quite fondly, he had great stories to tell.

What strikes me is how you have a vision in your mind afterwards of what the school was like. I remember going back to the school and being surprised at how small it was because everything seemed much bigger in my mind, but my memories of primary are very pleasant.

When I left national school I went to Benildus College in Kimacud, Co Dublin. My brother Paul, who was two years older than I, had gone to Benildus just the year ahead, but when I got there the college hadn't opened properly and so I ended up being in the same year as Paul all the way through secondary school.

Obviously having a brother ahead of you can be either good news or bad news. I was the quieter type and my elder brother was more the trail-blazer, so I suppose I got a bit of an easy ride, but then I wasn't one to make waves. I wasn't particularly good or bad at anything. I was your average pupil.

Maurice McMahon - the son of Bryan McMahon, the famous writer from Listowel - taught me history and English. He instilled in me a great love of those subjects. Maurice was also very much into GAA and sports so he was quite an influence on me. He's still teaching in the school.

The other lay teacher I remember, because he was there from the beginning, was called Colm Muldoon. He was from Kinvara in Galway. I think I got a strong sense of non-Dublinism from some of the teachers. For them, teaching was a vocation and a labour of love.

I was interested in commerce. The teacher I had for business organisation and economics, John McCarthy, was very young, probably in his first teaching role. He might not like me saying it, but I thought he was a bit of a head-banger. What I mean is, because he was young, probably no more that five or six years older than us, we related to him quite well, because of his age and his approach, which was quite laissez faire. He was also teaching subjects that I was interested in.

I was interested in commerce and marketing, probably because my father was in a selling career all his life. So I suppose it's not surprising I ended up the type of career I did.

After I left Benildus I took a keen interest in how it was doing and it won the national management game for many years. It obviously had a strong business ethos.

I would have been quite shy in school and still would be shy in many ways. I wouldn't naturally be the one wanting to grab the microphone, but I must have got a degree of self-esteem through school and to me that's one of the most important things education can give - a confidence in oneself.

In conversation with Olivia Kelly