The following gives details of the diversity and range of students which I have been

involved in teaching.

Students of GMIT Letterfrack

The programmes at GMIT Letterfrack have attracted students from the world over. While the majority
of students are Irish there have been students from numerous other countries such as: The UK, France,
Germany, Spain, Finland, Cech Republic, Poland, Holland, USA, Canada, Saudi Arabia, and more.

A significantly diverse range of students each with their own cultural background, language,
expectations and of course communication style. I have been involved in teaching students from all of
these countries. Some just blended right in. Others required a lot of extra assistance to understand.

When five Saudi students enrolled on the programmes in Letterfrack, I was asked to give them
additional personal tutorage for many hours per week on furniture making skills and techniques. Their
level of English was very poor. It was challenging but all five students passed my modules successfully.

Continuous Professional Development (CPD) Courses

Over the Easter break of 2015, 2016 and 2017 Paul has collaborated with fellow lecturer Des
Kelly, to run CPD courses in Fine Woodworking for secondary school woodwork teachers.

In essence, teaching fine woodworking skills, to woodwork teachers. Tough audience, one
would think. The courses have been a resounding success with many participants coming
back the following year to do up-skill further.

The course overview, information flyer as well as the working drawings for the projects
covered, as sent to participants in advance, are shown on the following pages.
The images below show Paul demonstrating hand cut dovetails and other jointing techniques to the
CPD participants.
 CDP Participants busy practicing their skills.

CPD Participants pictured below with Des Kelly (L) and Paul Leamy (R).
12.4 FAS, Community Employment Scheme, Woodworking Courses

I was approached and asked if I would run a woodworking skills course for local people who
were on the FAS Community Employment Scheme at the time. I designed a week-long course
and the scheme purchased some basic tools. The diversity of people on the courses were vast.
Most were in their fifties and sixties. There were batchelors and spinsters, widows and
widowers, family people and more. People who were very interested and some who had no
interest. The participants made a coffee table and everyone completed it by the end of the week.
They all felt a huge sense of achievement upon completion and were thrilled to be bringing
home their own table. The course ran for two years.

GMIT Letterfrack Hurling Team

In 2002 Sean Garvey and I set up the first hurling team for GMIT Letterfrack. There were no
facilities for training in Letterfrack. Our nearest hurling pitch was Ballyhane in Co. Mayo
where we played ‘home’ matches. Both Sean and I acted as coaches and devised training
sessions, drills, skills and fitness routines. We arranged sponsors for a complete set of jerseys,
organised buses, referees, refreshments and food for the players. As we had no pitch, training
mostly took place on Glasilaun beach past Lettergesh. Stunning location but sliotars don’t
bounce on sand and your legs become heavy quickly. Students were ferried there and back for
every training session. We competed and punched well above our weight, all things considered
and in our first year we qualified for the Fergal Maher Cup final against Maynooth. Playing
well we lost by four points. We were unfortunate to lose our goalie to an eye injury during the
previous week and our star forward had a bad leg injury so played in goal instead.

The experience of teaching students in precision, tolerances and all things furniture is polar
opposite to the methods of teaching (coaching) hurling. Pre-match dressing room inspirational
speeches, battles on the pitch, emotional highs with success and lows with loss. Broken bones
and broken egos. Head injuries, vomit, blood. Wouldn’t change it for the world. I believe that
sport is a universal language. First year students friends with students from all other years after
one training session. Friends for life created on the pitch.

In 2007 GMIT Letterfrack played and won against colleges with 4000 + students. We reached
the league final and won and earned promotion to the Ryan cup division the following year.
We played in four Fergal Maher Cup finals and for various reasons never quite got over the
line until 2017. GMIT Letterfrack were the All-Ireland Fergal Maher Cup winners. An
extraordinary achievement for a college with such small student numbers.

The photo above shows the first ever team to play for GMIT Letterfrack back in 2002

Pictured with Lecturers Paul Leamy and Sean Garvey are the victorious team who won the
national division three final in 2007 and earned promotion to the Ryan cup division.
 Captain Noel Whelan being presented with the cup by Mike MacMahon of Athlone IT.

Paul presenting the sports star of the year award 2003 to Shane Coen. Shane scored a
remarkable 6 goals and 44 points in 7 matches that season.
Tansgart Woodwork Centre, Asni, Morocco.

I was involved in a fantastic project which was a collaboration between GMIT Letterfrack staff
and students, with the Eve Branson Foundation and Green Sahara Furniture in Morocco. The
project involved knowledge transfer and skills development to the participants of the Tansghart
Woodwork Centre in the High Atlas Mountains.
I travelled to Morocco and taught seven young Berber men on various techniques such as
sharpening, health and safety, wood turning, various machine skills, etc.
Six of the boys had almost no English. Abdulterief, the woodwork centre manager had little. If
a picture paints a thousand words and actions speak louder than words then never was there a
truer test. I demonstrated, sketched and displayed numerous images to help share knowledge.
David Bult was also excellent in translating where he could.

The background to the project is best captured in the following article as it appeared in the
publication ‘Connemara Life’ in June 2017

Green Sahara Furniture (GSF)

American David Bult set up Green Sahara Furniture (GSF) in Casablanca in 2007. GSF design
and make bespoke furniture for the domestic market and international clients. GSF have a
strong ethical operating policy, using reclaimed and sustainable materials and providing
employment and training opportunities for the local community. Since 2009 David has been a
regular visitor to GMIT’s campus in Letterfrack, delivering lectures on ‘green’ business,
product development and international sales. Since then, five GMIT students have undertaken
Work Placement in his workshop in Casablanca, just a stone’s throw from the Atlantic Ocean.

Tansghart Woodwork Centre (TWC)

In recent years David has been involved in a training centre, the Tansghart Woodwork Centre
(TWC), in a remote region in the High Atlas Mountain Range, south of Marrakesh. This centre,
one of a number established with support from The Eve Branson Foundation, a Trust founded
by Sir Richard Branson’s mother Eve, provides opportunities for educational enrichment and
enterprise for young men from the Berber community in the surrounding villages. The TWC,
whose development has been spear-headed by David Bult, has seven trainees who produce a
range of wood-based crafts products and gifts using both traditional techniques and modern
technology.

In October 2016, GMIT Letterfrack Head of Department, Dermot O’Donovan attend the
official opening of the TWC. There, discussions took place on how GMIT Letterfrack could
provide expertise to support training and skills development and design and product
development support. On that occasion a Memorandum of Understanding was signed with GSF
and GMIT in order to chart a path for future knowledge transfer and training need analysis.
Later, in January 2017, GMIT Letterfrack Lecturer Paul Leamy, along with students Craig
Shanahan and Daniel O’Driscoll, visited the centre in Morocco to begin that educational
collaboration.

With support provided by the Teachers Union of Ireland and GMIT, woodworking tools valued
at €2,000 were transported with the Irish team. A training programme was delivered including
machine and equipment maintenance and health and safety, while the students worked on social
media, product design and marking. As well as work, there was of course paly too. With many
keen soccer enthusiasts, there was an international soccer tournament and one of the projects
developed was a giant duck made from reclaimed timber! This was in conjunction with the
Virgin campaign of ‘Give a flying duck!’ and was to be located at the nearby Virgin Unite
Kasbah Tamadot Hotel. A terrific bond was formed between all parties and the Berber
community, who have a deep-rooted sense of culture and heritage through their rich history,
were extremely generous and welcoming hosts.

This collaboration forms part of GMIT Letterfrack’s Green Campus initiative, a programme
aimed at embedding sustainability into the curriculum and operations of the Connemara
Campus. This is further enforced through GMIT’s work with the UBUNTU Network,
supported by Irish Aid, which focuses on integrating Development Education principles into
initial teacher education programmes. For the future there are plans to develop more formal
educational partnerships between GMIT and Tansghart Woodwork Centre, to continue to
develop the product range and to examine access options to international markets. One day it
is hoped that some of the TWC trainees will be accredited with GMIT Letterfrack awards. Most
of all, we can continue to learn from each other and share our stories, culture and traditions.
Written By Dermot O’Donovan, Head of Centre, GMIT Letterfrack
The Eve Branson Foundation has two weaving centres which have 20 young girls working in
each. They receive a weekly wage and earn much needed money to help support their families.
The area has very little in the line of employment and €7 per day would be considered a good
wage. Based on the success of the weaving centres, Eve Branson wanted to develop a project
that would help boys develop skills and build a sustainable future. The pages to follow capture
the spirit of what was achieved during Paul’s visit:
This is a summary of the training and work completed at the Tansghart Woodworking Centre
(TWC) from 15th to 22nd January 2017 with David Bult, from Green Sahara Furniture, Paul
Leamy, Lecturer and students Craig Shannon and Daniel O’Driscoll from GMIT Letterfrack
and the 7 participants from the TWC. Photos: Paul Leamy and David Bult.
Woodworking tools with a value of €2000 were brought from Ireland including three cordless
drills and chargers. The Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI) sponsored €1800 of this. Initial tasks
involved unwrapping the tools and making tool holding shelves for ease of use and safe storage.

Health and Safety formed a constant theme, which included various demonstrations on the
machines in the workshop. The TWC guys were instructed on the correct methods for safe use.
We made wooden push sticks for guiding timber through the joiner and saws. This was
previously carried out by hand. We discussed the importance of wearing hearing protection,
safety glasses and dust masks and considered the consequences of not wearing same. We
considered the impact of workplace accidents which included showing graphics of people who
have had woodworking machinery accidents.
The surface planer section on the combination machine had no bridge guard so we made one.
The thicknesser had no cover, which meant the operator’s hands were very close to the cutter
block during use, which posed a risk of serious injury. We had one engineered in Asni.

Various tool demonstrations were given throughout the week, starting with correct sharpening
techniques for chisels and bench planes. Following this, the TWC guys each got a chance to
practice sharpening chisels of various sizes to a razor sharp edge. Water stones were re-profiled
to suits the shape of the carving chisels that were already present at the TWC, which can now
easily be sharpened. Further hand tool demonstrations included the use of the dozuki Japanese
backsaw, the coping saw, paring chisels, Japanese marking knife, the cutting gauge, the
spokeshave, etc. The TWC guys got to practice using each of the tools including cutting halving
joints and paring shoulders.
There were no work holding vices in the workshop. We recommended that these would be very
useful for holding material while it was being worked on. Vices were designed and made for
the workbenches. Threaded bar and other components were sourced and welded in Asni.
Wooden handles were turned on the lathe.
A number of trial products were created on the lathe. The copy lathe was also set-up and a
sample chalice was turned from a template. All the TWC guys had a turn at using the copy
lathe. We discovered the electrical connection had no earth so it was re-wired correctly.
The by-product of olive oil production can be used to make a biofuel. There is an abundance
of this material in the local region and could potentially be used as an additional income source
for the TWC. Olive oil biofuel samples were produced. Two different pressing techniques were
used to press sample logs, square and round. Based on these tests we felt a metal tube would
be the best mould for these logs. The logs need to be left to dry for quite a while before being
used for fuel. Some of the olive oil by-product was also mixed with wood shavings, to ascertain
if this combination would also serve as an effective fuel. The samples will need further testing.
Previously the exhaust for the laser machine had been ducted out through an open window,
which meant the window could not close and dust could blow onto the laser machine from
outside. The exhaust duct was re-fitted through the window to solve these issues. The switch
to activate the exhaust fan was outside the window. The switch was re-wired to inside the
window.
Many laser products were trialled during the week with great success. Much of this involved
finding the correct power, frequency and speed settings for each of the materials to optimise
cutting and engraving while minimising burning and scorching of the materials. Items produced
included chessboards and pieces, bookmarks, coasters, large and small display packaging trials
and then 25 of the final design, smelting templates, and various signs for machines and hand
tools around the workshop.
Much work was completed on designing business cards and a brochure for the TWC to help
advertise their work to potential clients. Completed layouts are waiting for printing.

Merchandising display shelves were made and installed in the office as well as complimenting
product display packaging, made on the Epilog laser, to hang jewellery on the display shelves.

A jig was constructed to enable the safe re-sawing of wood in the round without the risk of log
rotation while travelling through the bandsaw. This increases safety for the operator during the
sawing process.
Scout Leader – skills teacher

I am one of the founding members of the local scout group, Bengoora, 31st Galway. The group
is only four years in existence and has already grown to 72 youth members and 19 adult
members which is a huge testament to the team of leaders in the background. I have been
trained in all aspects of scouting to the highest level attainable including child welfare. I am
Garda vetted by Scouting Ireland (and also by the FAI and GMIT). I currently hold the position
of group chairman and work closely with the cub scout section, who are aged 9 to 11. This
involves attending and running youth meeting on a weekly basis and partaking in weekend
activities as they are planned.

I also teaches the youth members skills and techniques such as knife safety and carving, hiking,
compass work, map reading, camping skills and also helps prepare them for completing their
adventure skills badges. Teaching cub scouts varies from having the whole group to smaller
sections depending on the task in hand. To say the teaching techniques Paul employees with
cub scouts, in comparison to the techniques he uses with third level students is diverse, may be
putting it mildly.

West Coast United

When my oldest son Nathan, started playing soccer for his local team, West Coast United, I
was asked if I would come on board as a coach. I completed the necessary coach training and
helped in the running of the team and became joint manager of the team for three years. This
involved teaching and coaching the youth players soccer skills and techniques at training
sessions every week. My role involved organising the training sessions and matches including
the transport for the team. The team progressed very well and won out their league sections
gaining promotion on two occasions.