IN THE COURSE of his long and fruitful life, which ended (suddenly) on January 31st, Bob O'Connor made a notable contribution in three careers - education, official statistics and economic research. Born in Frenchpark, Co. Roscommon, just a week before the Easter Rising of 1916, he began work in 1940 as a rural science teacher in Ballaghaderreen, having previously studied agricultural science at Mountbellew, the Albert College and UCD.
He proved to be a gifted teacher - he himself remained a perennial student - and his interests in education never waned even when he moved on to other activities. In 1942 he was appointed the first head of the new vocational school in Elphin. There he began research into the economics of agriculture, carrying out a number of local farm surveys under the guidance of Professor George O'Brien of UCD. His presentation of the results, in a series of papers to the Statistical and Social Inquiry Society of Ireland, first brought him to national and international attention. He was awarded a Marshal aid grant to study at Iowa State University in 1950-51.
Soon afterwards he was head hunted by Dr R C Geary, the director of the Central Statistics Office, to direct the first National Farm Survey in 1954. This survey, published in 1956, led to a complete change in the approach of the Agricultural Advisory Service.
Bob returned to education in 1956 as CEO of the Monaghan Vocational Education Committee, but after two years he rejoined the CSO. For the next 10 years he was in charge of the production of agricultural statistics. Among his many achievements was the development of reliable means of estimating annual farm output before the end of the year in question. He pioneered the application of the then novel techniques of input output and linear programming.
His fulltime career in research began when he joined the ESRI in 1967, and did not end until the day of his death indeed some of his recent research is still in process of publication. His range was wide, branching out from agriculture into all areas of natural resources, including pioneering work on the environment, and much else besides. While carrying out this work, he served as deputy director of the ESRI for nearly 10 years.
Never an ivory tower researcher, he applied his knowledge to practical problems through service on numerous Government committees and OECD expert groups, and latterly on the Western Bishops' Council for the West. He was elected president of the Statistical and Social Inquiry Society of Ireland, and first president of the Agricultural Economics Society.
In his youth he was a talented all round sportsman, playing Gaelic football for UCD and for Roscommon. He captained the UCD boxing team that won the inter varsities championship in 1939-40, and in later life he was an enthusiastic member of Elm Park Golf Club. His cultural interests were extensive: in his education career, he was deeply involved in amateur drama, as promoter, producer and actor, and all his life he read widely in literature, history and biography.
The quality that springs to mind above all in relation to Bob is integrity - in both meanings of that term, incorruptibility and wholeness. He greatly enjoyed the society of his many friends, and was a most hospitable host. To his wife Una, their family, and all of us who loved him, his departure leaves a void that cannot be filled.