In one of her final duties as INTO President Carmel Browne visits Longford school she loves so well

INTO President Carmel Browne made one of her final school visits as president of the INTO last week to Melview National School just outside Longford town.

This was a particularly special visit as Carmel was the Deputy Principal of Melview NS before she became president of INTO just last year.

This visit was one of the last on Carmel’s list as INTO President. This week, she passed on the torch to Anne Horan.

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There was great excitement as Carmel walked through the gates of the local school. The student council had lined up with a sign saying, “Welcome Back, Ms Browne,” and balloons in the INTO colours.

Carmel greeted each student in the line and was then guided to the school hall for an incredibly entertaining assembly that saw performances from the school scór competitors, such as figure dancing, a recitation, a ballad group and an instrumental group.

The Melview disco dancers also performed.

One highlight of the assembly was a hobby horsing performance from one of the students who performed a dressage routine.

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She will be heading to the World Hobby Horse Championships this year.

Following the celebrations, Carmel sat down to discuss the highs and lows of her presidential term.

“It’s probably been the most eventful and exciting year of my life, and absolutely empowering.

“I’ve been offered incredible opportunities throughout the year right throughout the year and I suppose the most important thing was to get to visit lots of schools, meet lots of teachers, and see the wonderful activities that are going on in all of our schools.”

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Anne Horan will be the next to take on the mantle. She is the current Vice-President of INTO.

“The next Congress is in Galway in two week’s time, and I will be passing on the chain to Anne Horan, who’s current Vice President so she’ll be taking over the mantle for next year,” explained Carmel.

“It’s been a fantastic year. I mean, you take on the role, you know it’s for a year, so I suppose it’s our job to do as much as we can in the year and enhance the lives of teachers and children as much as we possibly can for the year.”

One of the key moments in Carmel’s presidency was an event organised by INTO in conjunction with Friends of Palestine, The Conference of the Rights of Palestinian Children.

“That was certainly heart-wrenching, and very upsetting to hear the real stories of the real people in Gaza and how tier lives have been uprooted and schools have been obliterated and children murdered.

“And another event that I was at a few weeks after that, which was also heart-wrenching, I went on behalf of the trade union movement in Ireland, to lay a candle at the Auschwitz-Birkenau memorial site.

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“And again when you see the atrocities that happened back then, it’s shocking to think similar atrocities are happening around the world again now.”

Following the Melview Assembly, Carmel was brought to see the newly built, sensory area that has been made available to the students.

These kinds of supports are of key interest to Carmel and the rest of INTO.

“We have all our campaigns running throughout the year and at the start of the year, one of the big things I was hoping for was that the support for children with special educational needs would be enhanced dramatically.

“Unfortunately, that hasn’t happened. There have been some improvements. We’ve had more special classes open, but something that INTO has been calling doe now for a number of years, is therapeutic support for all the boys and girls in our schools, that hasn’t happened.”

The INTO presidency has given Carmel some great opportunities, and while she doesn’t know what’s next for her she’s very excited to find out.