Máirín O’Keeffe: 'The biggest thing for me was the no down time, the constant accessibility.' Photograph: Brian FarrellMáirín O’Keeffe rattles off a list of primary school principals she knows personally who are retiring prematurely this year, including one woman “young enough to be my daughter”. Another, aged just 40, will continue to teach but has decided that a principal’s life is not for her.
“I get emails all the time, that’s 24/7. Yesterday, over a one-hour period, 27 emails came in — and the school is closed. With some you go, ‘delete, delete, delete’, but in the middle of that are ones you do need to answer, like end of the year bills coming in.” She says Minister for Education Norma Foley’s acknowledgment of the work of schools and of principals throughout the pandemic “is cold comfort”.
Another “absolute bugbear” is having to fight for services such as speech therapy for children in the school’s autism unit. “To be in your house 24/7 with a child whose whole regulation has been turned upside down. I worried about the mental health of parents, and some parents might say, ‘Bloody hell she had no need to worry about me’, and I know that.
Her father died in 2020, and with her daughters studying for the Leaving Cert at the time, she felt guilty about being so preoccupied by work. The Leitrim woman thinks the Department of Education could ease the pressure on principals somewhat by simple things such as not sending out group emails on the first day of the Easter holidays or at the start of the weekend.
Karen06924202 Boomers getting out leaving the next generation to hell.
An all too common story unfortunately. Unsustainable job. You can't appreciate how difficult it is being on call 24/7 until you've done it. Searching for subs, building works over the summer, school alarm going off. You name it - all your problem if you're the principal.
Wishing Mairin the very best in her next phase, an outstanding educator who has made a huge difference heart passion integrity