My education

The interviews featured in this book are edited versions of much-acclaimed radio interviews which were broadcast under the title 'My Education' on RTE Radio between 1991 and 1996. There is much to savour here - not least the variety of contributors. Poets and philosophers mingle with captains of industry, civil servants rub shoulders with comedians, artists jostle with politicians. Their contributions are not overtly (in many cases not at all) about schooling, which is too often confused with education. For many of the contributors, the words of George Bernard Shaw are singularly apt - My education was interrupted by my schooling... For 'education' in this book, read the chance encounter with a mentor, the journey undertaken, the 'failure' in one particular job, the books read, the encouragement of a parent, the sheer chance of being born in a particular time and place. Examples abound to inform, provoke and challenge anyone interested in the influences - formal and informal - that contribute to an individual's education. Contributors include John Hume, Seamus Heaney, Peter Ustinov, Garrett Fitzgerald, Brendan Kennelly, Maureen Potter and John McGahern.