'It became too much at one stage, and I had to negotiate terms and conditions as I could not keep going at such a pace.'

'It became too much at one stage, and I had to negotiate terms and conditions as I could not keep going at such a pace.'

Rosemary describes the working conditions of her job in Belfast.

Rosemary McCloskey

Trinity College Dublin

1997

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Rosemary McCloskey

Work and Employment

Life Story

Belfast

1990's

I started work at the end of August. It entailed training women to work in Irish medium play groups and help them to attain the NVQ levels two and three.I did not realise how much hard work would be entailed in this job. I had groups in Belfast in Ionad Uibh Eachach which is a centre in Iveagh Crescent were the job was based. My boss was Sue Pentel, and Aine Andrews had a lot to do with the job as well. We held conferences and weekend training sessions. I had a group for training in Derry at noon on a Thursday where Danny Cassidy was in charge of the centre, a group in Buncrana which started at 7.00pm in the SIPTU office in Church Street on Thursday evenings. On Monday evenings I went to Dunloy to the naiscoil there and taught a group and on Tuesday evenings I was in Maghera. Later on I had a group in Downpatrick and another one in Lurgan occasionally. I also visited the naiscoil in Castlewellan to advise them. In the beginning I went too Greencastle in Donegal and also Carndonagh. It was a lot of travelling and in between times I was expected to be in the office in Iveagh Crescent. It became too much at one stage, and I had to negotiate terms and conditions as I could not keep going at such a pace. This job was funded for two years and Sue managed to cobble together enough money to sustain it for another year but then it was time to look elsewhere.

Irish Research Council for Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences (IRCHSS)

Dr Kathleen McTiernan (Trinity College Dublin)

Dr Deirdre O'Donnell (Trinity College Dublin)