Monica Clune never regarded herself as a subject for dying. This life-enhancing attitude persisted in spite of serious cardiac pronouncements that curtailed her working life. Any day now she would be going back to the day job as a senior RTE personnel executive.
Monica was, first and foremost, a Clare woman and, although her work and her interests found their focus in Dublin, the threads to her origins and that of her family were strong and tightly woven.
The Clune family clan were marked out early in the War of Independence. Her uncle, Conor Clune, a scholarly man who had travelled to Dublin with data collected for the genealogist Edward MacLysaght, was executed at Dublin Castle on the day after Bloody Sunday in the 1920 reprisal shootings. Willie and Kathleen Clune, Monica's parents, were teachers. Willie was principal of Ballycar national school and the recipient of the highest professional recognition, the Carlyle and Blake award, which he received three or four times. Monica's mother and father belonged to that post-Independence generation who opted to build up parliamentary democracy while retaining republican ideals.
UCD in the 1950s was still located in Earlsfort Terrace and many young women like Monica from boarding schools around the country spent their first year in the shelter of the nuns at Dominican or Loreto student residences. Monica, fresh from Laurel Hill school in Limerick, was one of these but from the beginning she had her sights set on academic achievement, not because she was a swot - far from it - but because in those days you had to grasp the one opportunity offered.
Around the time that Monica qualified, emigration had reached critical mass. Monica never contemplated leaving Ireland. She bussed around Dublin to a number of teaching jobs - her favourite was in Ballyfermot - to finance her post-graduate studies. Her list of credits was impressive and she was always high on the honours list; first there was a B Comm, followed by a BA then a Masters in economics and, for good measure, a diploma in librarianship.
The National Farmers' Association (now the IFA) employed Monica early in her career as a financial adviser. She must have been something of an exotic in those early days as she was imbued with an elegant chic easily at home on the Champs Elysees. In fact, that aspect of Monica is worth mentioning; she had the grace and looks of a John Singer Sargent society belle. Never self-regarding, her thrusting intelligence and vivacity ensured that character dominated beauty.
With the start-up of Telefis Eireann, Monica was one of the first administrative recruits and over the years she became a vital presence on interview boards, bringing sound judgement and perception to the selection of the right person for the job.
Monica always had an intense interest in the visual and performing arts. Right through her professional life she contributed hugely, on a voluntary basis, to the artistic and cultural life of the country. Her work for An Taisce stands undisputed, as does her dedication to the restoration of Drimnagh Castle, involving dogged fundraising and long hours of planning. She was involved in the same mission for the restoration of Cullenswood House when she died quite unexpectedly the day before a fund-raising auction that she had vigorously planned for.
Acknowledged by her associates as a deeply knowledgeable person, she was far removed from the world of the dilettante. At the time of her death she was treasurer of the Contemporary Arts Society, an organisation which has made a tangible difference in encouraging emerging artists and in creating an interest in modern Irish art generally.
Monica, thankfully, was no puritan and her passion for the arts was readily translated into having fun. An early supporter of the Irish Film Society, she never missed the best film in town. A frequent attender at the National Concert Hall, she was an ardent fan of the "home teams" - i.e., the RTE-funded orchestras. Along with her first college room-mates, Monica never missed a season of the Wexford Opera. An avid theatre-goer, she made sure of seeing the 1997 Theatre Festival production of the Martin McDonagh Leenane Trilogy at the one sitting. The Arts Club was a natural habitat for her and, in time, she did her stint on its committee. She hosted many a good lunch and dinner at the club. But for all her Dublin interests she never forgot her county, regularly attending the annual Merriman Summer School and helping her fellow Clare man, Con Howard, with the Brendan Society. Appropriately, her final resting place is at Quin Abbey, Co Clare.
Monica Clune had a kind of patriotism, turning her life over to the pursuit of the aesthetic and contributing to her community in that way - a significant goal given that these interests had largely been confined to upper-class urban or Anglo-Irish cognoscenti. Where Monica went we all followed: down with all philistines! Her many friends and RTE colleagues miss her a great deal and our sympathy goes to her brother Fergus, his wife Moya and Monica's niece, Sarah, and to all her extended family.