I joined the Army in 1949 and graduated from the cadet school in 1950. I worked in the Army until 1965 and at one stage was in charge of in-service courses for soldiers, NCOs and officers in the Army's school of physical culture, as it was called at the time. The idea was that we would train Army people to be instructors in their various units. One of the basic courses was a six-month course which included a number of academic-type subjects such as anatomy, physiology and so forth. Mainly, however, it was a practical course in which the skills of a variety of activities were introduced.
At the time physical education in schools either was not provided or there might have been a competitive sports programme. Perhaps sometimes there is that division but one can bring the two sides together, that is, training for competitive sports and physical activity for the sake of well-being.
Following on from the Army courses, quite a few of the people who were trained went out to the vocational education committees and began to teach physical education in schools. They became quite well known in the Dublin and Cork areas, in particular. People who had trained in the Army school of physical culture became instructors-teachers in the various schools. They were accepted and, as time went on, other teachers began to be trained in Britain. When they moved back home, they were taken on by schools. However, the majority of physical education was undertaken by Sion Hill and Ling colleges of education where girls were taught to be PE teachers. They did not have a second subject and were solely PE teachers.
In 1965, when I was appointed by the Department of Education to be the first inspector of physical education, there was not much to inspect, except in the girls' schools, and so a development programme was required. We did not have a college in Ireland training male teachers. Some people went to England and Strawberry Hill in Twickenham was quite popular. Dr. John Kane became involved with us at that time with the idea of establishing the national college of physical education in Limerick. That is all jumbled together but my role in the Department of Education at that time was to supervise that work, the establishment of a sports council, etc.
Time moved on, teachers were trained in Limerick and the boys' schools employed them. The men and the women were trained together there; it was not like Ling and Sion Hill which only trained women. That was the beginning of my involvement at education level.
My background was in the Army and I could see the links between armies worldwide and physical activities in their various countries. In Sweden, Germany and France, much of the early work done was of an army mode. I suppose the objective was to make the general population fit and well in case it had to go to war. A number of articles were published at that time in Britain stating they were worried about the fitness of young people since the army would say it needed them. They did a variety of tests.
Time passed and the focus gradually turned to educating young people to live a life in which activity was part of their lifestyle both for their health's sake and in order that they would have a satisfactory lifestyle of which physical activity was a part.
I will now turn to the present and how the Army might contribute. I am torn between the two functions I had — one in the Army and the other in education. However, a link can quite easily be created between organisations for the betterment of the people.
I made a number of points which I thought might be useful to run through to help members to focus on their main objective, that is, to see how the Defence Forces might contribute. If one says we are doing a programme for young people, old people or for those who are middle aged, one might alienate other people. It is very important that the population at large learns to play together and that they are encouraged to be active together. "Play" is perhaps one of the fundamental words about which we should think as well as physical activity. Play is older than mankind and humanity. Animals played before we came along. Therefore, all the activities we do should have a play element incorporated into them.
While there may be co-operation with governing bodies of sport, which have a firm focus on particular sports, the public view should be of participation by all citizens, regardless of club affiliation. The Army should make a contribution which might focus on one or other group but it should not alienate another group. Men tend to be alienated in terms of walking because women are so good at it. One sees them walking on the roads; sometimes they bring their husbands with them. We need to think in terms of the broader public.
The Army Reserve support would require an overlap of Army aims with projects. If, for example, the Army aim is to get a greater number of people in the Army to encourage Army people to integrate as citizens and make a voluntary contribution, that pragmatic approach would be very helpful. When I say "pragmatic approach", I mean doing the job.
I had much experience with a group called Gymnastique Volontaire in France. It is supported by the government there and is a good example of health enhancing physical activity whose participants and practices could be studied and adopted, where suitable. There could be an integration of Army support in that because I have seen that happen in France. Gymnastique Volontaire has a membership of millions and it is supported by the state. Its aims and objectives are health enhancing physical activity.
I will not go into detail on the following but the rainbow walking programme would suit the Army very well as a way to link it to physical activity for the general public. I taught in Sligo IT until this year. The students introduced the rainbow walking programme to their parents and supervised them while they did the programme, and the parents and the students came into the college at the end of the 22-week programme. This was an example of integration of parents and students in physical activity. Some of those involved in this were FCA members.
In Sligo IT, quite a few of the Army people were those who could deliver on the walking programme and on the orienteering and other types of programmes. One can see it happening but it is not programmed.
A challenge day programme, for example, is another type of activity that could quite easily be done. It sounds military, in a sense, if one has a town like Leipzig competing against a town like Waterford. The idea is to determine on one particular day what percentage of the population would be involved in physical activity for more than 20 minutes. That is easy to measure. One just gets organised. In the end of the day, the town that wins flies its flag over the town hall of the town that loses. It sounds military, and I would suggest it could quite easily be organised by the local FCA.
I remember being in a primary school in Waterford and telling the children that the challenge day was the following week. Gera, the town with which they competed, is not far from Leipzig. I told them that if Waterford lost, they would have to fly the flag of Gera over the town hall and I showed them the Gera flag, which was the colours of Kilkenny. There are no prizes for guessing how many of the Waterford children, and their parents, turned out in that instance.
Links with school programmes are important. To get Army involvement, it is probably based on the idea that we have a good school programme, primary and post-primary.
Our educational system is based on examinations. I suppose there is not much wrong with that, but nevertheless there is no examination for PE. Even if one had it at the junior level, it would mean that the PE teacher would not feel in the staff room somewhat deprived of status because he or she is in a tracksuit and out running around, but not involved when it comes to examinations. There might be a key.
On the Irish Sports Council programmes in the area of Sport for All, Sport for All is a Council of Europe document which outlines everything, from A to Z, the council recommends for sport. I do not see much in the newspapers about Sport for All activity, even, in the case of a marathon, for instance, to see who won or came second. Who cares who won — maybe somebody such as the runners' mothers do. The important aspect is the number of people who take part.
Research on physical activity is conducted by the Irish Research Institute. It is seen a lot, but I reckon that if one was to stop the majority of people in the street and ask had they read what the Irish Research Institute states about physical activity, one would get an answer in the negative. There needs to be publicity on the numbers taking part in Gaelic football, soccer, swimming, and so on. That tapestry is important. However, when the Irish Research Institute is commissioned by the sports council to do this work, the publicity is negligible. Perhaps there is no interest.
The involvement of professional groups from universities and IT courses linking with, perhaps, the FCA is a great possibility. Perhaps that is where the Army could contribute. When I was in the Army I saw what was happening and things have changed since then. The Army now has a role. It goes abroad. It has things to do. When we spoke of attacking and killing all enemy there, we did not know who the enemy was. Now they do not attack or kill them, but at least they know what the problems are.
The Army could be linked to physical well-being and physical activity. Perhaps the Army Reserve, what was the FCA, which has a little hut in every town in Ireland could fulfil a function. Perhaps they could use the Rainbow Walking Programme as a mode, because they can do marching. When we ran programmes we used get permission from Army barracks to use their drill masters to do some marching. People loved walking and loved the stylised form of it, not everyday but on occasion.
I was in the Army. I spent a great deal of time working in the Department of Education and Science and I spent a great deal of time with a Sport for All organisation trying to get people to be more active, for instance, in triathlon challenge days. The possibilities are immense. It seems that many of the skills I used I learned in the Army and perhaps the Army has a contribution to make again.
