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Principal cruises into retirement

Thursday, 03 July 2008

WHEN dedicated Northside teacher John Lynch started working in Dublin 15’s Sacred Heart of Jesus NS in 1983 it had just 35 pupils and two teachers.
But last week, after 25 years as principal, Mr Lynch waved goodbye to a state-of-the-art Huntstown school, which now boasts close to 900 students and 52 teachers.
“I feel lonely without the school, the students and staff but having spent 59 years in schools in one form or other I think it was definitely time to move on,” he told Northside People.
“A lot has changed since the school first started off and it was a privilege to be involved in its successful development.
“Its amazing to think that we now have two Polish staff who teach languages and one Lithuanian national who is a special needs assistant.”
He added: “Also 38 per cent of our enrolment is made up of children from 39 different countries. I could never have imagined the school would become so intercultural.”
The school has also changed significantly thanks to a e7 million investment over the past four years.
But despite the school’s developments and improvements, Mr Lynch still says the high point of his career involved his students.
“I felt most proud when I saw the students go on to reach their full potential,” he explained.
“It was fantastic to see the children go on to second and third level education to train to become a solicitor, engineers, teachers and so on.
“I also felt a certain pride when past-pupils went on to send their children to our school.”
Mr Lynch now plans to swap his school office for a cruise ship.
“I plan to do a lot of travelling and will start with a trip to Rome with my wife in September,” he said.
“Then we hope to do a cruise and maybe visit New Zealand and Australia later in the year.
“Thankfully for me, my wife Sally lives by the motto ‘I have a passport, so I must travel’.”
Mr Lynch was celebrated with a special ceremony in the school on Monday June 23.

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