SUMMER is here, (or what passes for summer in Ireland) and before we know it, the kids will be back in school, writes Ken Doyle.

So I’d like to begin if I may by addressing the new crop of first years who will take their place at Mount Seskin Community College here in leafy Tallaght.

As a first year, your Head of Year will be the subject of this piece, Mr Keith McClean. Ostensibly Mr McClean is a typical teacher, with nothing to really set him apart from any other.

I feel therefore duty-bound to tell you he is a 5th Dan Black Belt in Aikido and Head Coach to the Irish National Team (Team Eire), and Head Coach at Dublin Tomiki Aikido, his own Aikido school at! More of that will follow.

Yes, your new Head of Year Keith McClean is a Martial Arts Master, so you might want to think twice before you lob that paper-aeroplane at his head.

Actually I’m doing Keith a great disservice here. He would never use any of his techniques on his students, he’s a great guy, but if let’s say, a bear we’re to break into the classroom, Mr McClean would be the best person to hide behind.

Keith is a Jobstown man to his bones. I ask him about his younger days and he tells me: “I’m the second youngest (Sharon, Ruth, Anton, then me and then Sinéad) born to Rose and Christopher McClean.

‘We’re Jobstown born and bred and in fact we all went to Jobstown Community College which is now called Mount Seskin Community College.

‘I remember finishing my Leaving Cert and not having the foggiest notion what to do next, I spoke to the school’s Guidance Counsellor, a great man named Charlie Ferguson who would go on to be a mentor and friend to me.

“Between us, we hatched a plan and I ended up studying for and achieving a Science degree in UCD, through a programme called New Era which represented Deis Schools (schools for children from socio-economically disadvantaged areas).”

Keith was really discovering his passion for learning and he followed that up with a Degree in Statistics. But he still hadn’t found what he was looking for as the song goes. He even considered joining the Army at one point.

His Aikido was coming on leaps and bounds though. Having been in the Scouts for years, he was first introduced to martial arts through a highly regarded Taekwondo practitioner (and another good friend), Adrian Flynn.

Through Adrian and others, he got to know several martial arts and at the age of 16, he realised that Aikido was the one that spoke to him.

Never one to let the grass grow under his feet, Keith immediately joined Tallaght Tamiki Ryu, a club started by Karl Higgins in Belgard Community Centre on October 10 1991.

Keith McClean is a teacher in Mouth Seskin Community College

Those maths buffs amongst you will have realised that they have been going for 35 years this year and Keith remains tight-lipped about any celebration plans.

As Keith flew through the grades, it became clear that eventually the original members and organisers either were stopped from attending due to work commitments or through the creaking joints that come with age.

Numbers were down but luckily, in Keith they had just the man to save the club.

In 2012, he started a recruitment drive and gave the club a bit of a makeover. So it was that in 2012, Keith opened Dublin Tomiki Aikido club at the same premises the club had always used, Belgard Community Centre.

The new club was Keith’s baby and as such, he leads the students from the front.

He’s done self-defence/Control and Restraint (the point of Aikido) with all manner of organisations including: Security Firms, The Army, The Prison Service many more.

“I love the club and one of the most gratifying things about it is that we all grew together.

‘I must say we have to give a big thank you to the British Aikido Association which has been a great help and have given us so much good advice and training over the years.”

Keith mentioned a million names to thank when we spoke but I’ll just single out Adam Olanian, Mark Casserley and Dermot Conroy and lavish fulsome praise on all of the members and students.

Keith McClean is proud his club has trained 10 black belts

Keith assures me that the people at the club are some of the best you could ever meet. He’s also very proud of the fact that the club has trained 10 black belts with many more to follow.

“Oh,” Keith jumps in, “to explain Aikido, a bit better, a lot of Aikido moves are used in the John Wick movies.”

So back to Jobstown we go, and how Keith got the job he has now. “One Friday,” he begins, “I popped back in to see Charlie Ferguson now the school’s Deputy Principal my aforementioned Guidance Counsellor.

‘I was just looking for work experience and he suggested that I could do that in the school and what’s more, I’d shadow him – learning to be a guidance counsellor.

‘To be honest, I spent the first few months filling in CAO Forms (for my friend Elaine Ryan) but then I studied for and attained the proper credentials qualifications to be a Guidance Counsellor and I haven’t looked back since.”

“I try to take a holistic approach to my work as a GC, and I try to install Positive Mental Health for parents, students and staff.”

The school is flourishing under the guidance of Keith and the rest of the staff.

This year, Mount Seskin CC was the country’s best school for student progression. Whether to Degree Courses, Diploma Courses or Apprenticeships, it’s a school that really cares about its students.

Aikido has been good to Keith. He met his saintly wife Pamela through it and when he’s not spending quality time with the missus at home, he’s a bit of a gamer.

As I said, Keith, for all of his achievements is truly a Jobstown man. To hammer the point home, he tells me that the family moved to Jobstown on the April ’23 1980 and on April ’23 1981, a year to the day later, Keith was born.

So now kids, you know his date of birth, so when April rolls around, you can give him the bumps! I dare you.

For more information send an email to info@dublintomikiaikido.ie

The post Local Faces: Keith McClean appeared first on Echo.ie.

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