Retiring ETB staff honoured
Tipperary Education and Training Board (ETB) honoured 18 of its former staff members at its biannual 2024 Retired Staff Presentation at the Anner Hotel in Thurles recently.
The retirees, which included a principal, teachers, tutors, special needs assistants, support staff, among others, served for a total of 425 years in Tipperary ETB, and in its previous guise as North and South Tipperary VECs. The staff members, who retired between July 2023 and January 2024, were each presented with a Tipperary Crystal vase and a citation to mark their achievements in the education sector.
Each of the retirees were joined by family and friends at the presentation. Chief Executive of Tipperary ETB, Bernadette Cullen, welcomed attendees to Thurles, and thanked them for their professionalism and commitment to the ETB’s core values of Excellence, Equality, Respect, Care and Community during their education careers.
Chairperson of Tipperary ETB, Cllr Mary Hanna Hourigan, praised each of the retired staff for the impact they’ve made on education in the county.
“This occasion is a very special event, in which we celebrate the many decades of service which our staff have dedicated towards the development of people of all ages across Tipperary. The retired staff we celebrate tonight have served the educational needs of our learners with distinction over many years and, in many cases, multiple decades.
“This is an event which highlights the long-standing personal connections which our staff develop with schools, FET centres and the wider organisation. In your work, all of you have embodied our core values of Excellence, Care, Equality, Community and Respect.”
Tipperary ETB is patron of Nenagh Community National School (CNS) and 10 post-primary schools, as well as providing Further Education and Training (FET) courses from 17 centres across the county. Tipperary ETB also delivers a range of additional education services in community settings.
The Tipperary ETB retired staff members honoured on the night were:
Pauline Fitzgerald, Special Needs Assistant (SNA), St Ailbe’s (Tipperary Town); Matthew Carr, Principal, Borrisokane Community College; Margaret Connolly Loughman, SNA, Borrisokane Community College; Mary Byron, Teacher, Coláiste Dún Iascaigh (Cahir); Teresa Nash, SNA, St Ailbe’s; Fr Lorcan Kenny, Teacher, Coláiste Phobal (Roscrea); Geraldine Egan, Teacher, Templemore College; Carmel Phillips, Tutor, Community Education South; Breda Lonergan Ryan, Tutor, Adult Literacy South; PJ O’Connell, Teacher, Coláiste Mhuire Co-Ed (Thurles); John O’Dwyer, Teacher, Templemore College; Patricia Hanley, Attendant, Scoil Ruáin (Killenaule); Annette Strachan, Teacher, Templemore College; Gerard Treacy, Teacher, Scoil Ruáin; Olivia Ryan, Teacher, Coláiste Mhuire Co-Ed; Lisa Laaksonen (Rice), Teacher, St Ailbe’s; Marina Conroy, Tutor, Community Education North; Anne Marie Quin, Teacher, Coláiste Dún Iascaigh.