Michael Drumm reflects on a lifelong association

WHEN the gleaming gates of St Conor’s creaked open on the first day of September, 1973, the youngest pupil to pass through them was four-year-old Michael Drumm.

With his schoolbag slung over his shoulder and his belly full of butterflies, young Michael, though he did not know it at the time, was about to embark on seven years that would shape the man he would become.

Now, 50 years on from that sunny September morning in the early 1970s, Michael is chair of St Conor’s Board of Governors.

So, believing that there was nobody more apt to muse on the evolution of St Conor’s, last week we sat down with Michael for a chat about the school that so clearly holds a special place in his heart.

“I am Michael Drumm, I am a native of Omagh, and I was the youngest pupil at St Conor’s Primary School when it opened in September, 1973,” began the gregarious, 50-odd-year-old man. Though my memories of the earliest days at the school are scant, I still have a few,” said Michael.

If you are attempting to imagine what four-year-old Michael might have looked like on his first day at St Conor’s, picture a thin boy, not much taller than two lumps of turf, wearing a jumper, shirt and tie, with what looked like a lady’s handbag over his shoulder.

This was long before the introduction of a school uniform in 1985.

“Ms Ward was my P1 teacher, then in P2 I had Ms Quinn, then I sat another year in P2 with children that were my own age, and it was Ms Townsend who was my teacher that year.

“From that point on, I stayed with the same group of children until it came time to move on after P7.”

Like many of us, while Michael struggles to recall specific moments from his earliest days of primary school, his reminiscences come to him in the shape of a vague, but warm, nostalgic feeling.

“My overall memories of the school are not clear, but they are great all the same,” said Michael.

One thing that comes up repeatedly when you speak to people about St Conor’s is how accepting of difference it has always been.

“It was a school that was very inclusive from the start,” recalled Michael, using his adult brain to analyse his childhood experiences.

“It was a mixed school, gender-wise, and I think that was important.

“Growing up, I had friends that were girls and boys, which from an early age taught me you to get along with everybody, which I think had stood me in good stead through life.”

Michael then spoke about the impact St Conor’s first principal, Colm MacRory had on establishing a culture of inclusively which persists in the school to this day.

“Colm MacRory was strict, but fair and he treated every pupil equally.

“He did not restrict entrance to the school to pupils of one faith. There were kids at St Conor’s of different faiths, and their difference were not just tolerated, but it was welcomed and supported. He invited their faiths into the school.”

Michael recalled memories of ministers coming to the school in order to give non-Catholic children an education appropriate to their beliefs.

“Not only was Colm MacRory welcoming of children from different churches, but he also went out of his way to cater to pupils of all abilities,” said Michael.

“Early on in my time at St Conor’s the partial hearing unit was opened, which I think was the first of its kind outside of Belfast.

“This helped integrate people with hearing impairment into mainstream education.

“Around the town today, I still see some of the people who attended the partial hearing unit and it is great to be able to converse with them,” said Michael.

Consciously cutting himself short, Michael gave us one final sound bite that seems to sum up the experience of most children that have went through St Conor’s over the last 50 years.

“Generally, great school, great memories, and I think you would be pushed to find somebody that does not have great memories of St Conor’s.”