"PEOPLE seem to think we are amazing egg heads who will put them down and expose their ignorance. But that, of course, is not the case. The president of Irish Mensa, David Schulman, is familiar with the preconceptions people have about his organisation which is marking 50 years of intelligence testing.
As Mensa celebrates around the world, the spotlight is on the association made up of people with exceptionally high IQs - 2 per cent of the population.
An air of mystery surrounds this particular club of brain boxes but David Schulman insists that members are "normal, ordinary" people "who happen to have high intelligence levels".
He has been a member for the past two decades as has his wife Ann, author of two bestsellers, Intrigue and Encounters, and their two children Lynda and Paul. "We were both Mensa material when we met but we didn't know it."
In August, Mensa celebrates its golden anniversary. For a week in London, Manchester, Cambridge and Paris there will be parties, lectures, concerts, seminars, black tie dinners, 10 pin bowling sessions, and treasure hunts at this international gathering of prodigies, professors and "ordinary" people.
Jimmy Saville may be spotted solving puzzles with movie star Geena Davis, or even fellow member Sharon Stone.
Mensa came to Ireland more than 20 years ago; and there are now 1,500 Mensans north and south. Ireland has a particularly high number of members per population, ranking us about fourth in the world - not because we are a more intelligent race but because the Irish association is good at recruiting members.
If all those eligible in Ireland joined, the membership would be 60,000.
As in other countries, membership is divided into two thirds men and one third women. It seems women are slower to come forward to sit the test. "Perhaps men are brasher and need to prove themselves more," David Schulman ventures.
It was two men who set up Mensa in Britain 50 years ago - an Oxford postgraduate, Lancelot Ware, and a wealthy 50 year old Australian, Roland Berrill. Ware had a particular interest in intelligence testing and recognised Berrill as an ideal patron. They drew up a founding statement for the society with an aim of drawing up a list of the names and addresses of 600 of the most intelligent people in the country. In 1946 they began advertising in academic journals.
There were problems from the start including the name. They settled on Mens - Mental Health Society - but then realised that it was the name of a well known pornographic magazine and switched to Mensa, the Latin for table, to suggest intellectuals at a table together.
At the annual meeting of 1950 and 1951 there were revolts and then a breakaway, and such seething unrest was exacerbated by the fact that intelligence testing was beginning to lose credibility. In Britain, Mensa now has nearly 38,000 members: that's a 20 fold increase since 1980. International Mensa has another 60,000 members with branches in America, the rest of Europe including Ireland and, increasingly, southern Asia. Each year, 50,000 people take the entrance IQ test in Britain alone. About one in 20 passes.
Internal feuding and wrangling are still, it seems, a feature of the Irish association - an industrial tribunal in Birmingham is expected to decide soon on a case for unfair dismissal brought by Howard Gale, for the past 19 years Mensa's executive director. He was sacked last February. Three of his subordinates were suspended.
In America last year, a Mensa newsletter printed two articles proposing the creation of a "master race - and that the homeless "should be done away with, like abandoned kittens".
In short, the association has an image problem.
IF the press gives the impression Mensa is eccentric, that's because it is," explains Sir Clive Sinclair, the British chairman. Irish Mensans, on the other hand, are a happy bunch, according to David Schulman. "It's a question of serendipity and luck. I am familiar with a lot of Mensa groups around the world and Ireland is probably the happiest."
If you wish to see if you're eligible to become a Mensan write to Freepost Irish Mensa, P.O. Box 3647, Dublin 1. They will send you a home test. If you come in the top 2 per cent of national scores you can take another supervised intelligence test to try for Mensa entry. If you still come in the top 2 per cent - commonly said to give an IQ of at least 146 you can join.
Anyone who makes the grade can join - race, religion, employment or a criminal record are no bar. "We rank murderers, page three girls, street sweepers, the employed and the unemployable - amongst our members," Mr Schulman says.
The youngest member of Irish Mensa is five years old. Children sit a different IQ test to adults.
Members pay a subscription fee of £25 sterling a year, in return for which they receive a monthly glossy magazine with an eight page Irish insert.
Many members simply keep in contact by reading the magazine. "If you walked into a meeting it could just as easily be a meeting of the Red Cross or a bridge school. Generally there is a lot of craic and verbal humour. People will be interested in facts and are thirsty for knowledge."
For the most part, says Mr Schulman, people do not advertise the fact that they are members.
"We were contacted once by a school in Wexford who wanted someone from Mensa to talk to a class. We got on to one of our members and asked her if she would do it. It turned out that not only was her daughter in that class but the child also was a member. They just hadn't told anybody in the school.
"People are sometimes a bit wary about telling others. But there is no need to be intimidated and people should remember that just because you are intelligent does not mean that you are smart.
"Nobody should be afraid of Mensa. Some people would be amazed that they qualify and if you don't so what? - you might be able to better get on with your life."
