New principal is appointed at St Aloysius

Former deputy principal of St Aloysius College and inter-county GAA referee Gearóid Ó Conámha took up the top post at the school last week when it reopened after the Christmas break on January 7. Taking over from former principal Micheál Ó Faoláin, who retired on Tuesday, January 6, Mr Ó Conámha has taught at the school for the past 30 years and deputy principal for five years before taking up the post of principal. Having taught at the school since September 1979, Mr Ó Conámha said this week he was very familiar with the school, its ethos and policies. 'I know every block and nail in the school,' adding this his main aim as principal would be to further develop the spirit of the school. Speaking about the students in the school, he said: 'We try to give them values that will stand to them later in life. In Aloysius we lead by example, we have a wonderful staff who care for their students. We had visitors to the school recently who commented on a lovely atmosphere in the college and how friendly the students were. They are very respectful and helpful. Credit must be given to the staff for that and my predecessors. This is not something that didn"t happen over night, it"s been fostered over the years. That spirit is the trademark of the college today. My aim would be to build on that over the coming years.' A native Irish speaker, Mr Ó Conámha taught Irish, geography and history at the school for the first few years, but more recently had been teaching Irish and religion to senior cycle students. He added that the teaching post at St Aloysius was the only one he had held and was in fact the only interview he did after college. Mr Ó Conámha said the school took a holistic approach to the education and encouraged a lot of extra-curricular activities at the school in order to turn out well rounded students who were capable of dealing with the pressures life. He explained this week that aside from the school"s strong sporting tradition, there were several clubs at the college, including music and photography clubs, a Big Brother mentoring programme, breakfast and lunch clubs and a first year club, the aim of which was to help first year students develop friendships at the school. He said he would like to introduce programmes at the school to help students develop more healthy lifestyles. Mr Ó Conámha, who is an inter-county GAA referee, teaches Irish grammar with online college Hibernia and his interests include fishing, golf and travelling.