Month: November 2018

Wednesday 28 November 2018.  Mr John McGuiness.  Inter-schools Historical Society

The final speaker of the year was Mr John McGuiness, formerly Vice-Principal of the Christian Brothers Grammar School, Omagh in which some 50 years ago he founded the Inter-schools Historical Society.  The moving spirit behind the initiative was Br Newell of CBS supported by the Heads of History in Omagh Academy and Loreto Convent, namely Mr Ross Henderson and Mrs Mary McCaughey.   The aims of the society were to foster community relations and encourage an appreciation of  history.  During the decade from 1969 and 1979 – a period of considerable unrest in the Province – the society flourished, inviting speakers from the Ulster American Folk Park, The Folk and Transport Museum at Cultra and the History Departments at Queens and University of Ulster.  Day trips to the Beetling Mill at Wellbrook and the Spade Mill at Ballyclare paved the way for trips further afield to places such as Wexford and Galway.   With two coach loads of Sixth Formers in tow there were many anecdotes to be shared and enjoyed.   The society continued through the 1980’s with trips to the battlefield sites on World Wars I and II in Flanders and Normandy and has left all of those who participated with treasured memories of their school days.

Wednesday 21 November 2018, Julie Curry, Biodiversity Officer, Fermanagh and Omagh District Council 

Julie’s talk to Probus began with an overview of her role as Fermanagh and Omagh District Council’s Biodiversity Officer. When visiting primary schools, she is keen to explain that “biodiversity” relates to all living things in the world around us and the responsibilities we all have to maintain the environment. Much of what she does comes under WANE – the Wildlife and Natural Environment Act [Northern Ireland] 2011. This imposes a duty on local councils to develop policies to safeguard habitats such as Wetlands, Bogs and Heath, Woodlands and Hedgerows. Species in need of protection include bats, bees, red squirrels, eels, newts, damsel flies and wild orchids. She explained how members of the public can help by reporting sightings of endangered species via the website www.nmni.com/CEDaR. The threat posed by alien invasive species was also examined, with the spread of Rhododendron on our hillsides being cited as a highly visible example. Today  over 2000 alien species are already established in the UK.  Locally there are grey squirrels in our gardens, zebra mussels in our waterways and everywhere non-native pests such as rats and flatworms. Julie’s discourse about how to control Japanese Knotweed, Giant Hogweed and Himalayan Balsam gave rise to much discussion as members shared their experiences of trying to get rid of these invaders.

Wednesday 14 November 2018:  Speaker Roy Robinson; Topic “Rural Crime”

Mr Robinson was introduced by Chairman Paddy McGowan as a life-long friend; they had grown up on neighbouring farms close to the border in Co Fermanagh. Roy began by talking about his life as a salesman before joining the PSNI. He was stationed in Omagh from 1995 to 1999 and was one of the first on the scene when the bomb went off in August 1998.   In his current role as Chair of the Rural Crime Border Committee he works closely with the Garda Sciohana in the fight against rural crime in the border counties. The worst offenders typically own some land with out-buildings where they can hide stolen cattle and sheep.  Then using tags and documents which have been fraudulently acquired the livestock is marketed across the border.  Happily the Police and Guards are getting on top of the racket with the number of successful prosecutions rising and the number of crimes reported falling. Machinery theft continues to be an issue but today’s farmers are very security conscious, many fitting concealed trackers and keeping valuable equipment in barricaded compounds over-looked by CCTV cameras. Chief Inspector Robinson’s talk gave rise to many questions and the appreciation of all present.

 

Wednesday 7 November 2018 Mr Oliver Loughran.  Topic Empires and their Aftermath

Vice-President Oliver apologised that the speaker was not able to attend and filled the breach with an impromptu talk which he called “Empires and their aftermath”. His interest had begun in Latin class in the Christian Brothers Grammar School where he had studied Caesar’s Gallic wars. Having described the peculiar system of rewards and retributions imposed by his old teacher, Oliver then treated members to a brief idiosyncratic account of the rise and fall of the Roman Empire. He then touched upon other empires that had come and gone including those of the Vikings, the Anglo-Saxons, the Normans and the British, concluding with the observation that today’s empires are those of Google and Facebook. His talk encouraged several members to speak of their own experience of being taught Latin in the CBS and the meeting ended with lively reminiscences of Junior and Senior Certificate.