“I wonder if a softer spoken Greta Thunberg might make a far greater impact on world affairs. After all she has the concerned youth of the world on her side.”

My father Tom, beannacht Dé leis, was born in 1916. He was a woodwork teacher and principal of a Vocational School. Among my earliest memories are of beehives in the back garden by the river, a vegetable plot, Rhode Island red hens and a chicken-wired large pen where pheasants were raised for release into the wild. Indoors, off the stairs, was an aviary where canaries and finches were a continuous source of wonder. As children we observed the progress of life from egg to songster. We were tasked with ensuring the inmates received a regular supply of water, seed and groundsel. He never owned a field but native black Kerry cows were his special passion and thrived in rented ‘accommodation’. They were prize winners at the Royal Horticultural Spring Show in Ballsbridg and provided milk which my mother Han converted into butter using a table top churn. The school environment also reflected his interests with an educational focus. Indeed many of his pupils became avid beekeepers. In the late 60's, as a young primary teacher, I was beginning to master the newly introduced environmental programme. My classroom walls were awash with the multi-coloured art pieces of leaf prints created by my 4th class pupils. The window sills were adorned with a variety of jam jars and pots for growing seeds and bulbs. Much of my leaf identification research was conducted on the

winners at the Royal Horticultural Spring Show in Ballsbridg and provided milk which my mother Han converted into butter using a table top churn. The school environment also reflected his interests with an educational focus. Indeed many of his pupils became avid beekeepers.

In the late 60's, as a young primary teacher, I was beginning to master the newly introduced environmental programme. My classroom walls were awash with the multi-coloured art pieces of leaf prints created by my 4th class pupils. The window sills were adorned with a variety of jam jars and pots for growing seeds and bulbs. Much of my leaf identification research was conducted on

bulbs. Much of my leaf identification research was conducted on the SMA form which today is proposed to be considered as a case for the use of the

SMA farm which today accommodates a shopping centre and housing estates. A pair of 8 x30 binoculars, as recommended by RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds), allowed me become more familiar with the seasonal life of our feathered friends. Tom voiced a concern on an early visit to Martina and I in our new suburban home that I did not grow vegetables in the back garden. Indeed he might be impressed this lovely May morning by the Lee at the number of apples and pears being borne by potted dwarf fruit trees and a wall length of flowering blackberry demonstrating great promise of fruitfulness in that very same garden. I believe I have finally identified the essential ingredient that permeated all his work and actions. He had a deep rooted regard and respect for life in all its wondrous aspects and this gift he certainly passed on to me.