29th January 2012 - The Morning After (my Inauguration)

I’m a Dublin girl through to my core; I was born there and lived there all through my formative years. When my father became the Church of Ireland Bishop of Tuam and moved to Co Mayo I stayed in Dublin and went to boarding school in Monkstown. Although I was terribly homesick I made some good friends there who are still my friends all these years later. So I had the benefits of living in Dublin and enjoying lovely holidays in the beautiful West of Ireland. My first job was working as a secretary for the Medical Social Worker in the (old) Adelaide hospital – so I was still in Dublin.

I moved to London on 1st January 1980 just for 1 year; I had every intention of returning . ....but here I am 32 years later! Married and by then with 2 grown up daughters, I nearly moved back to Dublin after my husband died 7 years ago. Luckily I didn’t – instead I moved from Catfield (where? – deep in the country is where!) right into the centre of Norwich and joined The Irish Society Committee. If you were at my Inauguration last night you’ll have noticed that I’m no longer on my own and you’ll have met my Partner Nick.

We Irish are renowned worldwide for our friendliness, our charm, our music and our ability to drink Guinness in huge quantities! What we’re not known for is great organisation and attention to detail so it’s a constant surprise to me that, through all the chat and the jokes at our Committee meetings, we do actually get things organised and they do, on the night, work out fine. So what am I going to bring to this Presidency that no one else has until now? Well, with luck and a fair wind – nothing at all! It’s all been done and done very well indeed . . . all I shall do is aim to keep up my predecessors’ good work.

I look forward to meeting those of you I don’t already know at one (or more) of the events we’ll be holding this year. I’m still recovering from the party last night; I said I was nervous about being President – and I still am – but t’was a great evening and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute – after I’d finished my speech! Sheila M McDougall President 2012

Sheila M McDougall
President 2012