WHEN YOU'RE at school you tend to think that your teachers are ancient. Father Casey, who later became a Maynooth professor, was our scienceteacher at Newbridge College, Co Kildare, which I attended during the 1950s. At the time I thought: him the oldest person in the world. It's only looking back that I realise he was probably in his: mid 50s and was younger than I am now.

During my time, Newbridge had one of the foremost school science laboratories in the country and, largely thanks to Father Casey, we were way ahead of other schools. He was a very enthusiastic teacher and gave us a great grounding in science and an appreciation of botany - from which my present interest in flowers and plants is derived.

On my first day at school, I overheard a conversation between my father and the headmaster, Father Kiely.

"What would you like us to do for him? Achieve a good Leaving Certificate?" Dr Kiely asked.

"No," said my father. "Just make a man of him."

I settled quickly into boarding school life. Previously I had attended Koska College in Clontarf, Dublin, which was run by Dr Louis Roden. The fact that I had studied French and Latin there gave me a great advantage for a short time.

Newbridge offered a broad, liberal education, and concentrated on producing well rounded people and preparing them for life. Looking back, it's not the academic work, but the extracurricular activities - the choir, the opera productions, the arts, crafts and games, which the school has held on to - that I particularly remember.

There was a strong emphasis on sports. I can still recall saying Novenas to help me get on to the second rugby team. In the event, though I wasn't a great player, I was so enthusiastic and determined that I was picked for the first team.

There were almost 50 of us in the Leaving Certificate class, but I was the only one who was planning to go into business for himself. And even at UCD, where I studied commerce, I found that most people assumed that they were going to get jobs after graduation.

I don't believe that there is sufficient emphasis on entrepreneurship and the desirability of becoming self starters in our education system. We need to instill self confidence in our young people and to encourage them to believe in themselves.

Things are beginning to change, however. The main objective of the new Applied Leaving Certificate is to encourage students who have no interest in the traditional Leaving Certificate to be more entrepreneurial.