Senator Joe O Toole

Senator Joe O Toole

Joe has done two evening classes in his lifetime, most recently a navigation course at the Clontarf Sailing Club.

“It was a fairly intensive course, which took place over 18 weeks. I missed a few classes but I managed to get to most of them - really, it was life or death stuff. I wanted to sail from Ireland to France and when you’re in the middle of the ocean and you can’t see land, it’s important to know exactly where you are. We learned about things like dead stops, GPS (global positioning systems) and how to read charts.”

He loved the class and had the added bonus of attending the class with his friend Donal, which motivated them both to turn up.

“There was a good mix of people from all walks of life. The lecturer – Jim McGuire – was excellent, very experienced and all in all it was great craic.”

The second night course Joe did was one on public speaking, about 20 years ago, which was something that he was engaged in at the time. He thinks that evening classes can be a great way of expanding your knowledge of something that you are already doing – so you can deepen your interest by finding out the theory behind the practice.

“I don’t look at a list of courses and say “what’ll I do this year?” I’m basically interested in everything in the whole world. I’m interested in alternative energy at the moment and I know that a place in Leitrim is running some courses on that – I’m thinking of installing a rainwater collection system and solar panels in the house.”

Joe believes that everyone, from fishermen to doctors, should have access to lifelong learning as part and parcel of their work. He also thinks that further education could be the answer to a significant number of social problems.

“I do believe in terms of problems like obesity, it’s basically a lack of information/education. If people had a better understanding of food and nutrition, for example, then they would have a better chance of combating the problem. The same goes for the environment and cultural differences – if people understood them better, then problems could be avoided. It is in the national interest that there be significant investment in that level of education.”

But the senator is also a proponent of taking an evening class to broaden your own personal horizons.

“People at all levels of life should be looking at doing new things - active retirement is highly important, for example. Knowledge for knowledge’s sake can be wonderful. Just think of someone studying philosophy for the first time – they’re just going to be blown away.”