Former teacher Niamh Hamill left Dublin, with her family, to run the Donegal Adventure Centre, writes SYLVIA THOMPSON.
NIAMH HAMILL exudes the joys of living in a small town in Ireland. As she drives through Bundoran to show me the popular beginners surf beach at Tullan Strand, her own recently built home overlooking Donegal bay and then on to the smart coffee shop for this interview, she meets several people she knows.
“When I said I was moving to Bundoran, people shook their heads in disbelief but the old criticisms of Bundoran have been addressed.
“Surfing has changed this town. It’s bohemian. There’s a great music scene but it has taken a while for people’s attitudes to change.”
The eldest of three children, Hamill grew up in Templelogue, Dublin. She went to the local girls’ school, Sancta Maria, and then on to St Patrick’s College, Drumcondra to do her Bachelor’s in Education. Then she taught for eight years in St Martin De Porres primary school in Oldbawn, Tallaght, and spent another eight years at Ashfield College in Templelogue.
During this time, she married Paddy Hamill and they had two children, Aoife and Ryan.
“It was the commuting that drove me scatty,” she says. “I was living and working in Templelogue yet it took me almost one and a half hours between dropping the children to each of their schools and getting to work.”
A COMMITTED teacher, Hamill had often brought groups of children for weekends away to adventure centres and it was her contact with the McEniff family who own the Donegal Adventure Centre in Bundoran that led to her new life.
“I had taken the sixth class children from Oldbawn on a residential trip to the Donegal Adventure Centre and I was amazed at the impact the trip had on the group.
“In the classroom, you tend to damp down free expression because you have to teach but when you allow children to shine in different situations, they discover their strengths,” she explains.
Together with her brother,Collie, Hamill also brought American students to adventure centres in the west of Ireland.
“Collie and I worked together bringing students to study in Ashfield College every summer. We’d offer them two weeks of learning about Irish culture in Dublin and one week in the west of Ireland,” she says.
“I told John McEniff how impressed I was with the Donegal Adventure Centre and he rang me and asked me if I’d like to manage it.”
That was in 2001 and Hamill and her husband Paddy were ready for a change. “Paddy is from Clones, Co Monaghan, and we’d always talked about getting out of Dublin.
“My father is from Donegal and we had spent our summers there. The children were 12 and nine and I felt they’d had their taste of Dublin,” she says.
The death of local boy Brian Mulvany following a fight was another factor that influenced their decision to move. “Brian had been one of my students at Ashfield College and he was such a nice kid. His death was such a tragic waste of a life. I felt, it’s time to take the children from here and do something different.”
AND, SO THEY moved. “Right from the start, I felt I was more connected to and available for the children. They were in school just down the road and came in to say hello on their way home.
“Also, there was a great feeling of community: Aoife joined the local GAA club and started playing Gaelic football. She loved it. Ryan joined the local surf club although it took him a little longer to settle in.”
Since then, Ryan has developed an interest in music and has his own band while Aoife has become a local radio presenter. “I just feel that their lives are more rounded here,” says Hamill.
She is keen to stress that the urban feel of Bundoran was crucial to settling into their new life. “Ireland is a small country. You can locate yourself anywhere and not be too far away. But, for me, the urban infrastructure was important. The town has broadband, a cinema, lots of pubs where live music is played and it’s only three and a half hours from Dublin.”
Another aspect of small town life that appeals to her is the fact that teenagers and their parents often socialise together. “The generations are mixed and everyone knows everyone else so somebody will tell you if your children are up to something or in any danger,” she says.
Since she has moved to Bundoran, Hamill has developed another enterprise which fits neatly into the music scene in this part of Donegal.
“There is a lot of musical talent here and young people are encouraged to play,” she says. The music festivals in nearby Ballyshannon also draw large crowds to the area.
So, Hamill has become a talent scout and promoter of local musicians. The Chasing Bull pub in Bundoran is the music venue and the singer-songwriter, Onya, is Hamill’s current rising star. “I travel to Irish fairs and schools in America three or four times a year promoting the Adventure Centre so now I also promote Irish bands. In fact, I’m just back from the South x South West music festival in Texas where we brought Onya.”
Hamill points out that the Donegal Adventure Centre is not a great moneyspinner but the opportunities it offers young people is what makes it work for her.
“Sport and art should be part of education because they shape the future generation. If teenagers have problems with drugs and alcohol, it’s because there are no fun alternatives being offered to them.
“Activity centres like this offer them an alternative and surfing is a cool way of learning about healthy living. You just can’t get up at 7am to catch the best waves if you’ve been smashed the night before.”