Tribute: Late Eamonn Tynan was a wonderful Longford teacher and a catalyst for change

On Monday, May 1, 2023, ‘May Day’ Eamonn Tynan was laid to rest in Ardagh Cemetery.
Eamonn was a secondary school teacher for all of his working life, who post-retirement was still anxious to give back to the community and did so very assiduously by volunteering with a number of agencies one of which was the Citizens Information Centre in Longford.

Templemichael College paid a glowing tribute to their former teacher. “Eamonn began his teaching career in 1971 at Ballymahon Vocational School and moved to Longford Vocational School (now Templemichael College) in 1980, where he taught until his retirement in 2009.

“Eamonn was a gifted and enthusiastic teacher of English, History and Geography who had a remarkable ability to inspire and engage his students. He was highly respected and admired by them, and his passion for teaching and his commitment to their success was evident in everything he did. He had a wonderful sense of humour and a wealth of knowledge, which he used to lighten up the staff room and entertain his colleagues with his many stories and jokes.

“Eamonn was a great character, and his presence in Room 14 is still remembered by his colleagues to this day. He was always great company – engaging, intelligent and witty. He was a well-travelled man who brought back some wonderful tales and teaching resources from his adventures around the world.
“Eamonn was also a supportive colleague who showed great interest in the students and the College. He always wanted the very best for the students and the College. He was deeply supportive of students, parents, staff, and management, and his contributions to the College will not be forgotten.”

Eamonn was always interested in the formation of government policy and often questioned the rationale of certain rights and entitlements one of which now impacted on his own family; the State Pension Contributory and in particular the calculation of that entitlement.

I shared his interest in pension calculations and so great conversations ensued which resulted in feedback to the Department on the associated anomalies, inconsistencies and inequalities. However, it was apparent that the slow burner of bureaucracy would ultimately prevent us ever accomplishing the changes that we hoped for – that is until one day in October 2018 following the budget Eamonn called me to say that he needed ‘prepping’, he was going on the Sean O’Rourke show on National Radio to take up the matter of pension calculations directly with Minister Paschal Donoghue who was making himself available to take questions from the public arising from the budget.

That day I recall waiting with bated breath for Eamonn to come on air. He was clear, articulate and gave an example of how women in particular were disadvantaged by the pension calculations penalising them for years out of the PRSI system when they were required to give up work, mind children, care for loved ones etc. He calculated how much women could lose out per week using the “average” calculation comparing it with that of an unbroken PRSI record.

To be fair to Minister Donohoe, he immediately understood the point that was being made and actually referred to it as ‘bonkers’ making all the news headlines the following day.

The exchange resulted in an accelerated review of the pensions calculations which was backdated to 2012 with hundreds and thousands of women all over Ireland benefiting financially from that one phone call and the courage of one man, Eamonn Tynan.

I remember physically shouting at the radio “well done Eamonn”. I remember clapping him when he had finished. He had executed his mission excellently. He was a hero, courageous to have taken the Minister to task live on national radio and to have commanded his full attention and commitment to address the issue.

Eamonn Tynan’s phone call was the catalyst, the change for many women, the women of Longford, of Ireland and we owe him a great debt of gratitude.
The Roy T Bennett quote immediately comes to mind: “Be brave to stand for what you believe in even if you stand alone”.

The late Edward Michael (Eamonn) Tynan, Breaney, Ardagh, Longford died peacefully, at the Regional Hospital, Mullingar on Friday, April 28. He was predeceased by his brothers Fr Sean and Henry, and will be sadly missed by his wife and best friend Carmel, his sons Garret and David, his sister Kathleen McMonagle (Dublin) and his brother Andy (Curry), nieces and nephews, grandchildren Aoibhin, Ronan and Niamh, daughter-in-law Sinead, neighbours, relatives and friends.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis
- Connie Gerety-Quinn