Popular principal bids farewell after two decades at the helm of Dunboyne College

The principal and founder of Dunboyne College of Further Education (DCFE), Denis Leonard, is retiring this summer and the event was marked at a function in the Knightsbrook Hotel in Trim.

Denis was teaching in St Peter’s College, Dunboyne when he started the secondary school’s first Post Leaving Cert courses in 2003 and has been at the helm since, taking on the role of principal when the large Post Leaving Cert offering at St Peter’s grew into its own separate entity, Dunboyne College of Further Education in 2015.

He has seen the initial two courses, catering for 40 students, grow into a college with 1,400 students and 90 staff offering 70 courses.

“I am proud to be able to say that more than 9,000 students have passed through Dunboyne College of Further Education and progressed to employment or university,” he said.

Denis is originally from Newport, County Mayo and he studied at UCD. In the years since he has graduated with a Masters Degree in Equality Studies and studied career guidance in Maynooth University. He spent 11 years in Chicago before taking up a post teaching CSPE and religion in Finglas.

”I came to teach in St Peter’s, Dunboyne in 1996, teaching English and CSPE, and later I was a guidance counsellor.”

In 2003, Denis was responsible for setting up a Post Leaving Cert courses in the old national school building in Dunboyne.

”We had two rooms and 40 students. We ran two courses – business and social studies – that allowed progression to third level in the Institute of Technology Blanchardstown at first and then later Maynooth University.

”We then moved on to a range of other subjects, including arts, music and science. We moved to the business park in Dunboyne in 2007 and we separated from St Peter’s in 2015 and I became principal.

”Today, Dunboyne CFE offers a wide range of courses aimed at employment or progression to higher education. Computers, engineering, social studies, accounting, science, law, politics, hospitality and tourism, beauty and hairdressing are among the 70 courses offered.

“Our students graduate with level five and six QQIs and some with higher diplomas. Some of our courses will eventually be degree courses.”More than 90 per cent of those who achieve a full award with us receive offers and progress to third level education or employment.

”An aspect of Dunboyne College Denis takes particular pride in is the fact that 30 per cent of students have some kind of learning difficulty but with learning supports, the majority get their full awards and some people who had struggled at secondary school progress through DCFE to university and employment.

“We cater for a lot of mature students. Between 200 and 300 students are in their 20s, 30s, 40s or 50s and are coming back into education.”

DCFE has grown into one of the largest in the country and caters for students from Meath, west Dublin, north Kildare and parts of the midlands. “We had one graduate from Germany and we have a lot of students from across Leinster.”

Denis has loved working with his staff. “They are dedicated and they have helped the college grow. We have great teachers and support staff who put the students first.

!The Louth Meath Education and Training Board (LMETB) has also been a great help. I hope whoever replaces me gets the same support,” he said.

Denis’s one big disappointment is that he hasn’t seen DCFE in purpose-built premises. “We were promised our own building in 2015 but it is still not through the initial planning stages. It is a source of disappointment. No primary or secondary school would be left to operate out of 30 warehouse units for 20 years. Further education is not valued in this country.

”Denis will retire this summer and as the academic year ends there are a lot of goodbyes, including the function in the Knightsbrook hotel. Among those who attended were Education Minister Helen McEntee, Deputy Darren O’Rourke, Deputy Gillian Toole, Cllr Maria Murphy, Martin O’Brien, CEO LMETB, former minister, Damien English, Sadie Ward McDermot, director of Further Education, LMETB, members of the board of DCFE, president of Maynooth University, Prof Eeva Leinonen, and president of DkIT, Dr Diarmuid O’Callaghan, former CEO of LMETB Peter Kierens and John McGinnity formerly of Maynooth, and former member of board of management of DCFE.

Cllr Nick Killian, chair of LMETB, paid tribute to Denis “as a teacher, guidance counsellor, and most importantly an educator”.

”When DCFE started in the old national school on Main Street, Dunboyne with two classrooms and two portable toilets, with the support Peter Kierens, Denis’s dream seemed far away from what he has achieved over the last 10 years in bringing DCFE to be one of the leading colleges of FE in the country,” said Cllr Killian.

Minister Helen McEntee said that from the moment she met Denis, it was clear he was somebody who was “absolutely determined to everything he could for the college and more importantly the students. He has achieved so much and we will all miss him.”

Martin O’Brien, CEO of LMETB, said Denis had been much more than an administrator. “You’ve been a mentor, a guide, and a steady hand that led DCFE through the ever-changing landscape of further education and training… your leadership has been a turning point for Dunboyne and for LMETB.

”Denis lives in Kinnegad with his wife, Mary. They have two children, Ellen, who is married to Cathal Finn and lives in Dunboyne, and Michael, who is studying social science. Denis is a long standing member of Westmeath County Council. “While I’m retiring from Dunboyne College, I am not retiring from the council and hope to continue that for a few more years. I’m a Labour councillor as I’ve always believed in community development.

“I will miss my time in Dunboyne College but I’m looking forward to retirement. I will have more time for my council work and am hoping to spend some time in Mayo, cycling, walking and visiting people I want to catch up with.”