There is a shadowy side to Celtic Tiger Ireland, an unseemly underbelly that can best be described as an erosion of soul. Kevin Esmonde, who died recently with awesome untimeliness, possessed a greatness of soul. Educated by the Benedictines at Ampleforth, Kevin went on to Oxford. Having completed his social work training, he returned to his beloved Ballyellis in North Cork. Since that time, for over two decades, he was employed as a community care social worker with the Southern Health Board.
Affable and articulate, Kevin used these qualities in his professional practice in the increasingly challenging sphere of child protection social work. Stories of his kindness and generosity to people who came to him for help over the years are legendary. And while resources to assist the needy may not always have been to hand, it was not unknown for him to reach into his own pocket.
But it is in the wider arena of shaping social work for a post-modern Ireland that another of Kevin's passions and ultimately one of his greatest achievements must lie. As an ardent trade unionist, he ably represented his vocational group at the national level, giving himself with characteristic generosity, integrity and good humour. It was a crucial time for Irish social work, an era of rapid change in legislation, policy and strategy. Social work was moving from being a vocation in a denominational fiefdom, to take its place as a profession in a civil society. In recognition of his sterling commitment to the cause, IMPACT nominated Kevin to be the trade union representative on the National Social Work Qualifications Board. Established by the Minister for Health in 1997, this board was charged with the task of sustaining and developing quality social work education and training for present-day practitioners.
Kevin's passing may well provide a timely opportunity to reflect on this sea-change that is occurring in contemporary Irish social work, not to mention the enormous challenges in the areas of staff recruitment and retention for the employing agencies. Social workers today are required to discharge their increasingly statutory function in a risk society. But what about the qualities of soul? What about mindfulness, empathy and compassion? How can we balance the legal, the professional, with the creative and the human?
At a personal level, I sometimes found myself in disagreement with Kevin on issues. However, it was the gentleman in him that made it so easy to reconnect with him afterwards. He had a great passion for sailing and his skill as a raconteur drew us all in as he regaled us with a wonderful fund of stories from his many voyages to exotic places. I have good memories of social encounters with him, over a few pints, when the conversation inevitably came around to our common experiences of boarding school. And I happily recall our last meeting as such an occasion.
To Kevin's family - his wife Mary, his mother Aileen, his brother Peter and his sister Helen - must go our heartfelt sympathy on their sudden and irreparable loss.
K.B.C.