Having spent almost a decade and a half on the other side of the world in Sydney, Australia, Professor Dermot Nestor has spent the past month adjusting to life back in Ireland and undertaking his new role as President of Mary immaculate College.
For most, the journey from Caherdavin to MIC’s Limerick campus is one of five kilometres, or 10 minutes by car; Dermot, however, chose a somewhat more scenic route to get here.
“I suppose my journey to MIC starts where the story itself began: back in Thomondgate, in the heart of Limerick. When I was two, my parents moved out to Caherdavin. That's where I spent much of my youth, going to Christ the King NS in Caherdavin. Then I went to St Nessan's, now Thomond College, and ultimately moved on to university. Academically, my journey brought me to different institutions, different levels and types of employment, a rich variety of disciplinary fields of study, and to different countries. The last 13 to 14 years have been spent in Sydney at the Australian Catholic University. I felt I had achieved a lot there, but I wanted to do more. It’s not that I wanted more for me. I am ambitious, but not in that selfish way. (I suppose no one would say they're ambitious in the selfish way!) There’s something of a 'calling back' in play here that runs counter to the more recent experience of many Irish people who have been called overseas.
Having once embarked on the route of emigration, at this point in my life, the calling was not to go somewhere else. Rather, it was to come back here, back to where I was born. It was to take this role, to represent this institution, and to honour the legacy of those who held the position of President before me. It was to take up the invitation that is the guiding mission of this institution and to direct it in ways that are relevant for our contemporary, complex, and emerging society.”
As Dermot knows however, having played soccer with Caherdavin Celtic and hurling with Na Piarsaigh, watching from the sidelines is not the same as being in the game.
“I've known Mary Immaculate College a long time. Growing up here in Limerick for starters, of course. I knew it as ‘Mary I, I knew it undertook teacher training, and I knew the high walls!’ Those walls have long since passed, which I think is indicative of the vision that others have had for the place; to be more open, to be transformed, and to be transformative. I was very lucky to have met with past presidents, including Michael Hayes, with whom I had tea and scones in this very office. I was very lucky to have met Eugene Wall on several occasions and also Vice-Presidents like Gary O'Brien and Niamh Hourigan. Having met these people over the last number of years, I've had an interest in what goes on here, so it wasn't an unknown entity to me. But you never know what really goes on till you set foot over the threshold and you have the opportunity to sit with people and see what's under the hood. Thankfully, it's all been very good.”
Despite his profile as a leading biblical scholar—Professor of Hebrew Bible at the Australian Catholic University—and prior to that having undertaken his PhD on the topic of ancient Israelite identity at the school of Religions and Theology in Trinity College Dublin, Dermot’s academic niche might instead come as something of a surprise to many.
“If someone said, ‘Oh, you’re a Theologian?’, I would have to respond that 'I am not'. My early academic training did involve engagement with theology, as have many aspects of various roles I have held in previous years. My core interest, and my substantive discipline expertise is situated within Biblical Studies, and specifically its historical orientations. My interest in, and love of, history comes not from any antiquarian curiosity or a naïve pursuit of origins. What excites me about the past, and writing about the past, is an exploration of the motives, interests, and biases that determined the past would be recorded the way it was. What was it about those times that conditioned and/or inspired people to document their stories the way they did? What significance have those narratives had for others through history and, what does it mean for us now? Of course, what genuinely interests me and what I've been able to actively pursue as research are two different things! In general, my interests are in the history, religions and languages of what we refer to as ancient Israel. And to qualify that ‘ancient’, it is the Late Bronze to early Iron Age period (1200 – 900BCE). I'm very interested in archaeology and the aligned area of material culture studies. I'm interested also in museum studies and cultural heritage. I am interested in a wide range of literature (ancient and modern), and I am deeply connected with integral ecologies and aligned efforts to emphasize the interconnected nature of all life, and all activities on earth.”
A separate piece of cultural heritage, albeit not quite as old as the ancient Israelites (but equally close to Dermot’s heart) is the All-Ireland hurling final.
“A few Sundays back at a local running club in Sydney, I was chatting with a mate and he asked me ‘If you had a chance to go to one sporting event, what would it be?’ I explained that it would have to be the All-Ireland hurling final, for the pure spectacle of it, for the sensation of it. So many people who have never played; they see something in it. They rally around parish and county and all other associations become irrelevant, even family goes out the window! As much as it can be superficially divisive, Gaelic games, and, I think, hurling in particular, is a uniquely unifying event for Irish people. I still remember Marty Morrissey’s commentary for the 2016 final. It was such poetry; he was calling out to people from Perth to Pakistan, and from Doolin to Dubai; all Irish people who were tuning in on their radios, telephones, satellites and/or TVs: it was just so emotional, and inspirational. That’s what the game is; to play, and to watch."
Running is one past-time that Dermot enjoys partaking in when he isn’t working.
“I don’t get much spare time! I have to find it or make it. I'll have to be straight with you: my wife is a major inspiration in terms of making the most of your time. She manages a super busy schedule as a teacher (something all teachers can resonate with), and as a volunteer for a wide range of local surf club activities and initiatives. She took up running before we left for Australia back in 2011 and then really graduated into it and now runs ultramarathons. The training, and discipline, required to maintain your fitness for these events is immense. Not only does she find that time but she is the inspiration to the rest of us in the house to reach beyond what we might think are limits and boundaries.”
As Dermot is quick to point out though, running is often more enjoyable when the skies are as clear as Sydney’s are inclined to be. Pondering the culture shocks since his return, the biggest one probably shouldn’t come as too much of a shock.
“Nothing surprises me anymore but mostly, yeah, it’s the rain!”
“Rain is something I have always struggled with. It limits your activity. It doesn't depress me or despair me in any way, but the lack of a blue sky does have an impact. But then we look for clear skies in our work instead. As a compensation, maybe I'll just have to paint a beach scene on the walls of the President’s Office,” he quipped.
Dermot, however, has plans to bring more to his new role than decorating. Discussing what his hopes are, he said:
“I think I bring myself to it. You know, I think that that's an important dimension. I like to think I'm quite authentic. I have integrity. If I say I'm interested in something, I genuinely am. If I'm talking with somebody, it's not because that is a superficial act or action that someone new is required to do, or thinks they should do. If I am talking with someone it’s because I'm genuinely interested in what they do here, why they do it, and what they hope to achieve through that work. I think there's a sense that I'm not the only one that should be having those conversations. I think those conversations have long been a core part of an academic’s life and one of my key objectives is recapture and/or reinvigorate something of the ambitions that inspired people to be academics in the first place.
“This is something that I want to stimulate and to support. So whatever ideas I may have about future directions of the institution, they will necessarily be brought into dialogue with the ambition’s others have and which they share. What emerges then is a pathway that we can all locate ourselves within, and a roadmap that we join journey on collectively.”
While his tenure may have only just begun, looking to the future and where his time in office might bring MIC, Dermot added:
“Where do I see MIC in five years’ time? Still standing in this place—but perhaps extending its footprint, whether that’s physically here in Limerick or in Thurles or perhaps in other areas of the region. Perhaps it is also in terms of a consolidation and extension of our virtual profile, proficiency, and presence. As a college we are known, and rightfully so, as the premiere provider of Initial Teacher Education in Ireland and, that is a status that is also acknowledged internationally. I'd like to see similar levels of acknowledgement for our other programmes and offerings, for our research, and for our extensive range of engagement. I’d like to think we have an appetite and an ambition, as an institution, to look at other programme offerings in what might be new, aligned and/or emerging areas. I’d like to think we can have a shared vision and a collective will to advance the College in ways that bring its founding mission into critical dialogue with the emerging issues that define our complex, and often fractured world. So, for me at the moment, and perhaps always, the journey is more important than the destination. Those destinations will come in good time.”
