saca newsletter - St. Andrew's College

SACA NEWSLETTER A p r i l

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SACA London Reunion Date: 15th May 2015 Venue: The Porterhouse, Maiden Lane, Covent Garden. Time: 6pm

SAC ’82 Lights Up New York City April 17-18, 2015 Kyra Cheremeteff, SAC ’82, Washington, DC

A superb group of SAC ‘82 joined together with their spouses and dates to light up NYC on April 1718, 2015! We gave the big apple a run for its money! Here’s who we were: Oona O’Flaherty and Don Murray Eunan Ryan Jane McCutcheon Andrew Fyffe Tracey Hayes Stephen Ritchie and Robin Carrier Kyra Cheremeteff and Thomas Richardson Louise Heneghan Jackie Franchetti and Jennifer Franchetti (Jackie is holding the SAC banner in the group photo!) Philip Marshall and Caroline Wallner Paul Eccles and Anna-Marie Bruinsma On the evening of April 17 Jane McCutcheon and her mother Carol launched these unforgettable festivities. They hosted a fantastic cocktail party! Thank you to the McCutcheon ladies! Gracious and generous beyond words. Throughout the weekend many went sightseeing and exploring -- to museums, downtown, uptown, crosstown. We found a few bars... and a few brave souls even hopped on a train to visit that icon of Americana -- Coney Island! On April 18 we boarded the upper deck of The Water Club -- with its wrap-around views across the sparkling East River -- for cocktails at 7 pm and seated dinner at 8 pm; an evening absolutely beautifully organized by the awesome Oona O’Flaherty. Boy can she throw a party! We had toasts -- and what toasts! Impromptu speakers included Eunan, Jackie, Paul, Jane, Stephen, among several others. They brought the house down with poignant recollections, jokes, and amazing expressions of friendship that ended with a heart-stopping performance on piano by Philip Marshall, accompanied by his wife Caroline. They performed an original ballad written for their daughter. But there’s more! The technological advances of the 21st century brought us Grattan Kirk -- on speaker phone -- calling in early in the morning from South Africa to toast with us! Jeanette Stewart elicited roaring cheers as she called in from Australia face-timing from across the globe with Jackie’s help.

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The majority of the group moved on around 1 am to the fabled NYC-landmark -- P.J. Clarke’s on Third Avenue. There we took over a good portion of the establishment; Tracey Hayes and Paul Eccles cut a mean carpet on an improvised dance floor! And, in true SAC ‘82 fashion we made certain to be the last ones out when we closed the bar -- and an exceptionally memorable night -- at 4 AM! In brief, SAC ‘82 again outdid themselves and we were proud of it! Be sure to join us for Round #3 -Our Next Reunion. Our next proposed venue is Vancouver -- lovingly referred to by us as HongCouver -- with perhaps a ski weekend as our theme! Join the next SAC ‘82 party! We NEVER disappoint!

Congratulations to the three SAC alumni from the Class of 2013 who were elected to the TCD Scholarship 2015: Siddharth Gupta: Engineering Kyle Frohna: Nanoscience, Physics & Chemistry of Advanced Materials Ian Harper: Theoretical Physics

SACA Newsletter April 2015

Sean Naylor - Class of 1984

I loved my time at Andrew’s, but I had only the foggiest notions of what I wanted to be when I left. Ireland in the early 1980s did not seem to be bursting with opportunity. I loved rock music and while still in school had managed to snare myself a position as a contributor to Hot Press. At the time I thought that might be a stepping stone to other work in the rock business: management perhaps, or promotion. But it turned out the writing itself was my future. While in sixth year I was asked whether I wanted to apply for a scholarship to Boston University. (The university had a scholarship competition open to students at international schools, and as Andrew’s was classed as such, had asked the school to supply up to three candidates.) I put a lot of work into my application, seeing it as something of a chance to live an adventure I hadn’t even conceived of. I used my Hot Press work, and said I wanted to study journalism. (Boston University had a highly regarded communications college.) To my joy, I was awarded a scholarship, and at the end of the summer 1984 headed off to Boston. I immediately fell in love with the United States. The individual freedom at the core of the country’s ethos and the optimistic nature of Americans were so refreshing. A summer 1986 job in a rock band management company on Bachelors Walk in Dublin convinced me that I wasn’t ruthless enough for that business. Increasingly, I saw my future in journalism, and in the United States. I spent the next summer in Pakistan’s North-West Frontier Province, to cover the war across the border in Afghanistan as a freelancer for The Irish Times, Hot Press and an American magazine called The World & I. It was a tremendous adventure for a twenty-year-old: I met several of the senior Afghan mujahideen figures, including two who are now on the United States’ most wanted lists and one – Hamid Karzai – who spent 13 years as president of Afghanistan. By the end of the summer I knew that covering military and other national security issues was what I wanted to do with my life. Upon graduation from BU in 1988 I took a job at a paper in the Boston suburbs, an experience which confirmed for me that local politics was not something about which I was interested in writing. Fortunately, BU offered me a fellowship at the university’s newly-established Center for Defense Journalism. After a year of intense study I emerged with an MA in International Relations, and found the perfect job in Washington, D.C., writing for Army Times, an independent weekly newspaper about the U.S. Army. The Army Times job afforded me a front-line view of every major military action the United States undertook during the next two decades, from peacekeeping operations in Somalia to mountain warfare in Afghanistan. I accompanied infantry patrolling alleyways in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and rode in a Humvee across the Sava River from Croatia into Bosnia with the first U.S. soldiers into that war-torn nation. Meanwhile, I played rugby for a team in the Washington suburbs – relying almost exclusively on the basics I had learned playing for Andrew’s. In early 2002 I wrangled an opportunity to embed with infantry troops in Operation Anaconda, the biggest battle of the first phase of the U.S. war in Afghanistan. I was already on the lookout for an opportunity to write a military non-fiction book about current events. (I had co-authored a history of tank warfare in the mid-1990s.) The Anaconda battle, which had drama aplenty, was tailor-made for my ambition. My book Not a Good Day to Die – The Untold Story of Operation Anaconda, was published in March 2005 and became a best-seller. My next big adventure actually came while I was writing Not a Good Day to Die: the March 2003 invasion of Iraq. I was fortunate enough to garner an embed slot with the lead cavalry squadron of the entire invasion, which became one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life. The squadron fought through a succession of ambushes without losing a soldier, but there were some close calls. I have rarely felt so alive.

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Sean Naylor - Class of 1984 continued.... (Ironically, perhaps my closest shave had nothing to do with being shot at, but occurred when the driver of the Humvee in which I was a passenger, who was halfway through his second night without sleep and relying on night-vision goggles, missed a turn in the desert and drove the vehicle at some speed over the side of a dried-up river bed, dropping perhaps eight or ten feet before hitting the ground. Amazingly, other than two spider-web patterns where the driver’s and frontseat passenger’s helmets bounced off the Perspex windshield, the vehicle was undamaged and started up again.) I’ve spent most of the past decade covering the U.S. military’s special operations forces – one of the most secretive communities in the Defense Department. The beat calls for the ability to cultivate sources outside of official channels, and then to keep those sources secret. At least one FBI investigation has tried to divine the sources for one of my stories. In early 2012, I took what would become a permanent leave of absence from Army Times to work on my next book: Relentless Strike – The Secret History of Joint Special Operations Command, about the organization behind the United States’ most secret special operations missions. I spent three years working full time on the book, which will be published in the United States this September. In late 2014, when the heavy lifting for the book was over, I worked on a contract for The New York Times as part of an investigative team on a special operations-related project that, as of writing, has yet to see the light of day. I have since been hired as an intelligence and counterterrorism correspondent by Foreign Policy, a magazine with a rich history that is making a major investment in its online presence. The new job offers me an opportunity to do what I love most: ferret out the stories that people need to know, but which others try to hide.

Helen James (1988)

Helen and her 2 other judges are looking for Congratulations to Helen James (1988) on her individuality, functionality and clever design. They current TV series “Home of the Year” which is each score the homes out of 10 and the home with the highest combined score goes through to the aired on Thursday nights on RTE 1. final, where the ultimate winner will be crowned. From self-built dream homes to eco-friendly country retreats, Home of the Year features people who have built their dream home, just the way they like it. The series showcases homes all over the country and includes: a surprising semi-d, a small terraced home with a clever interior, a converted church, an architecturally distinct flood-proof home and a family home with clever storage solutions, to name just a few. Don’t forget to vote for Molly Sterling, current 5th year student, who is representing Ireland in the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest which begins with the semi finals on the 19th and 21st May and the final on Saturday May 23rd. All the best Molly! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBZ7XSYX90E


SACA Business Lunch - “But, I’m not in sales!”

Have you ever heard this: ‘But, I’m not in sales!’ Well, yes, you are. Anyone who works in a company are in some way a contributor to the sales of the organisation from the receptionist who speaks to more customers than anyone else, to the truck driver who delivers the products. Oh, yes and then there are the sales people. The 3rd SACA Business lunch was run in conjunction with the Sales Institute of Ireland in the Alexander Hotel on Wednesday 29th April. A lively group of about 50 members of the alumni turned up for a bite to eat, a chance to see some old faces and to listen to two speakers who hopefully sent them away with a few new ideas, at least. Linda Laird welcomed everyone and introduced Bob Hoffman who is the CEO of the Sales Institute. Bob explained how the Sales Institute can help individuals and companies alike, improve their sales culture through the 70+ networking, knowledge sharing and training events that they run each year in Cork, Dublin and Belfast. The first of the speakers was Nicola O’Neill who is MD of Harvest Resources Ltd. who have been in the business of development of people and organisations for over 28 years in Ireland. Nicola is an active networker and was recently elected President of the Irish Institute of Training & Development Council. Nicola dicussed the practice of coaching people whether it be sales people, non-sales people or even your children, the principles are the same. The second speaker was Dermot McConkey, which anyone in the Irish finance sector will have come across Dermot at some point. He delivers humorous, energetic, motivational keynotes to national and international audiences for over 35 years. He assists people in achieving positive, measurable change in their attitude, their behaviour and in their results. He also dicussed the substantial increase in female decision makers who are what’s called Generation Y, i.e. born after 1985 and thus born into the Internet age and did not have to ‘learn’ it. These people are completely different to sell to than the traditional older males who were born pre-1985 and had to ‘learn’ about the Internet. We hope people left after enjoying a nice lunch, saw some old familiar faces, met some new people and had a few new ideas floating around their head. We plan to hold a 4th SACA Business lunch later in the year. Watch this space!


St Stephen’s Green & Clyde Road Lunch On Friday 24 April, 60 + past pupils from St Stephen’s Green & Clyde Road met up for another really enjoyable Lunch. Guest of honour was Jack Wolfe, the only person from the days when St Andrew’s College was in St Stephen’s Green! Jack will be 91 at the end of May, is in good health and still has a twinkle in his eye! Guests included the Headmaster, Peter Fraser and his wife Sara. Also there were past pupils from the Class of 1965 celebrating 50 years since they left Clyde Road. By the looks of things nobody was rushing home and the chat looked likely to continue well into the evening!

Norman McCully, Iain Carstairs, Gerald Beesley, Brian Wallace

Jack Wolfe (1943) and George Reeves (1947)

Paddy Cook, Derek McCleane, Clifford Forsyth, Berkeley Vincent

Frans Van Der Lee, Wim Van Der Lee, Arthur Jordan, Fred Yoakley

William Frederick Alexander Mathews (1894 - 1915) William F.A. Mathews and his three brothers, Richard, Alfred and Reginald attended St Andrew’s College in the early 1900s. William was a member of Neptune Rowing Club and rowed stroke for its Junior Crew in 1913-14. At that time, many St Andrew’s past students belonged to the I.R.F.U., particularly to Wanderers R.F. Club, some of whose founders had come from the College. At least 19 St Andrew’s past pupils, including William, responded to a letter from Lieut.-Col Geoffrey Downing in 1914 by joining the first 300 rugby, soccer and Gaelic footballers who assembled at Lansdowne Road to become the “Pals” Company. The “Pals” went into training at the Curragh and, while there, William Mathews was chosen to join the machine-gun unit. In April 1915 the “Pals” marched past large cheering crowds on the streets of Dublin to leave for war. They first fought at Suvla Bay in Gallipoli, Turkey. It was an absolute military disaster and many of them were killed or died of sickness or wounds there. Sadly William was amongst those who died, on 13 September 1915, just after the Suvla Bay landing, at the age of 21. There is no known grave but William’s name appears on Panel 190 to 196 on the Helles Memorial in Gallipoli. In his Hon. Secretary’s Report at the OBU AGM on 28 October 1915, M.W.T. Wyon wrote “A member of last year’s committee, Mr W.F.A. Mathews, is in the recent casualty lists. He was killed at the Dardenelles. A letter of condolence has been sent to his father Mr Marcus Mathews expressing sincere regret on behalf of the members of the Union.”


Denis Johnston - 22nd August 1942 Born in Dublin, he wrote mostly plays, but also works of literary criticism, a book-length biographical essay of Jonathan Swift, a memoir and an eccentric work of philosophy. His first play, The Old Lady Says No!, helped establish the worldwide reputation of the Dublin Gate Theatre; his second, The Moon in the Yellow River, has been performed around the globe in numerous productions featuring such actors as Jack Hawkins, Claude Rains and Errol Flynn, although not all in the same production. He played a minor role in the 1935 film version of John Millington Synge’s Riders to the Sea. Johnston was a protégé of WB Yeats and Shaw, and had a stormy friendship with Sean O’Casey. He was a pioneer of television and war reporting. He worked as a lawyer in the 1920s and 1930s before joining the BBC as a writer and producer, first in radio and then in the fledgling television service. During the Second World War he served as a BBC war correspondent, reporting from El Alamein to Buchenwald. For this he was awarded an OBE 1945. He then became Director of Programmes for the television service. Johnston later moved to the United States and taught at Mount Holyoke College, Smith College and other This remarkable picture of a remarkable man shows Denis Johnston in conversation universities. He kept extensive diaries throughout his life, now deposited in the Library of Trinity College, with Winston Churchill. This is a pretty incredible anniversary as 70 years ago, Denis Dublin, and these together with his many articles and essays give a distinctive picture of his times and Johnston, an Andrew’s old boy was the the people he knew. He received honorary degrees first journalist into the Nazi concentration from the University of Ulster and Mount Holyoke camp Buchenwald following its liberation. Denis was an esteemed war correspondent, College and was a member of Aosdána. and a radio and television producer for the His daughter Jennifer Johnston is a respected BBC. For his service from El Alamein to novelist and playwright. Buchenwald, Denis was awarded the OBE.

This year’s St Andrew’s College Model United Nations Conference took place in The Royal Marine Hotel, Dun Laoghaire. Massive congratulations are due to all who took part with special mention due to Joint Secretary Generals, Alexander Beatty and Caroline Garde as well as President of the General Assembly, Aoife Daly. Congratulations also to Jamie Pearson Evans and Luke Gleeson, Ambassadors of award-winning Delegations at SAIMUN 2015


SACA Sports News

Congratulations to the SAC Senior Boys’ Golf Team of Rob Browne, Ziggy de Boe Agnew, Charlie Marshall, Charlie Denvir and Harry Sutton who reached the final of the All-Ireland School Strokeplay Championships beating Calasantius College 4-1 in the semi final.They played Royal Belfast Academical Institution and came agonisingly close to taking the title losing out 3-2 on the first play-off hole. It has been an outstanding season from the side who lifted the Leinster title and went so close to going all the way. Congratulations to all concerned.

Congrats to Andrew Porter from last year’s SCT on his selection for Ireland for the World Rugby Under -20 championships in Italy this summer. Another tremendous achievement for the lad. Also, congratulations to 5th Year Student Sally Campbell who went to Scotland with the Ireland U18s at the TriNations Hockey Tournament. Ireland beat Wales 6:1 in their opening game with Sally scoring one of the goals.

Well done to the JCT and SCT cricket teams who won their games vs Blackrock and High School respectively. For anyone who’s been on the end of a hiding by Rock at rugby, here are the scores - We got 283-4, Rock were all out for 33. Last year our cricket SCT won the Leinster Cup for only the 4th time in our history and now this year’s SCT got off to a cracking start chasing High School’s total of 112, we got it in 5.2 overs with James Meir (51) and Rory Nichols(61) both hitting 15 ball half centuries!! Well done lads!

Huge congratulations to Monkstown HC who beat Banbridge 2:1 to win the Men’s Irish Hockey League final for the third year in a row and the 2s beat Three Rock to win the Irish Junior Cup. A remarkable achievement in itself but, for SAC it is something to be extra proud of as the two teams are full of SAC students, both past and present, and includes Stephen, David, Lee and Geoff Cole, Gareth and David Watkins, Richard Sykes, David Fitzgerald, Jamie Carr, Jazze Henry, Gavin Groves, Andrew Ward, David Carson, Jake Beirne, Nick Dee and Ian Horsfield. David Nolan would have been in the line up too but sadly broke his arm. Also a special mention for Transition Year student Guy Sarratt who is the third generation of his family to win the Irish Junior Hockey Trophy. His Grandfather Geoff and Uncle Philip won the trophy in 1965 and 1997 respectively playing for Avoca HC.

Dates for your Diary

SACA Newsletter April 2015

SACA London Reunion Date: 15th May 2015 Venue: The Porterhouse, Maiden Lane, Covent Garden Time: 6pm

SACA Golf Outing Date: 18th September 2015 Venue: Edmondstown Golf Club, Rathfarnham Time: TBC

SACA Annual Dinner Date: 9th October 2015 Venue: 7pm Drinks Reception at St. Andrew’s College Venue: 8:30pm Dinner at Radisson Blu, St. Helen’s Hotel, Stillorgan Road 10 & 20 Year Reunion for Classes of 2005 and 1995 Date: 14th November 2015 Venue: 7pm Drinks Reception at St. Andrew’s College Venue: 8:30pm Dinner and Music at Dublin City Hilton, Charlemont Place, Dublin 2

Announcements

Congratulations to the following on their Engagements: Donal Cumiskey (2005) to Sophie O’Connor Tess Sheridan (2004) to Neil Emer McLysaght (1999) to Francis

Congratulations to the following on their recent Weddings: Colin Hayes (1999) to Svenja Ralph Vellekoop (2000) to Eimear

Congratulations to the following on the new additions to their families:

Keith Spencer (1998) and Kate on the birth of their baby son, Richard. Sarah Jermyn (2000) and Ross on the birth of their baby boy, Fionn.

Our sympathies go to the family, friends and classmates of Philip Vaughan (1971) who died recently.

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