Latest news with #Woulfe
Irish Examiner
06-05-2025
- Health
- Irish Examiner
RTÉ's Cathy Halloran opens up about cancer diagnosis following retirement
RTÉ correspondent Cathy Halloran has opened up about her breast cancer diagnosis following her retirement from the national broadcaster. After 38 years with the national broadcaster, the former mid-west correspondent retired on Friday. Posting on social media following her final broadcast, she described meeting the thousands of people she has encountered over her 38-year career as 'a privilege'. In her first interview since announcing her retirement, Halloran revealed that she received a cancer diagnosis in March 2024, just six months after her partner Nicky Woulfe was also diagnosed. While both have received the all-clear and their prognoses are positive, their diagnoses have shifted their priorities and shaped their recent decisions. Speaking to the RTÉ Guide about the day she received her diagnosis, she said: "If you are diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, it focuses the mind. I feel good now. I don't feel 64, more like early 50s. And apart from the cancer diagnosis, I've been healthy.' Over & out—last day @rtenews after 38 years 31as Mid West Correspondent 🙏to the 000's I met & interviewed been a privilege 🌷 — Cathy Halloran (@HalloranCathy) May 2, 2025 Halloran opened up about how her 20-year-old son John Michael took the news of her diagnosis, just six months after learning of his dad's cancer diagnosis. "The biggest challenge was do I tell John Michael? He started college in 2023, Woulfe got cancer that October and within six months cancer had visited us both. So, with John Michael, I decided to wait until I knew more: I didn't want to burst his bubble. But he was wondering why I had been up and down to Cork. I eventually told him then about the cancer diagnosis and the visits to BreastCheck. 'He just asked me: "Mum, will you get better?' And I said: 'Absolutely!' He didn't ask me any more questions. So that's my cancer story. But I was determined to go back to work, and I did in May 2024, just in time for the Limerick mayoral election and local elections. In many ways, work was therapy for me. Speaking about how she met Woulfe, she said she knew him from being in and out of the RTÉ studio back in the day, long before they were a couple. 'I was there with the big hair and miniskirt and the lipstick. He asked, 'Who's your one?' We later met in a pub, and it went from there. Now here's a story that you can make of what you will,' she said. Going on to speak about her son, she said she believes he was a gift, after finding out she was pregnant with him in her early 40s, after meeting Woulfe at 42. "I was 43 when I had John Michael. I waited so long for him and then, the next thing, he arrived. Right through my 30s, I wanted to have a child, but I was also so happy with my nieces and nephews. And the next thing, didn't it happen,' she said. She said that when she fell pregnant she worried about how she would manage her job with a baby but said she learned to adapt. Speaking about what she wants to do next with her life, she shared plans to travel: Europe, Chicago, the world, visit museums and galleries, and said that university - something she never did - is also an itch. Reflecting on her time at RTÉ, she said she will take with her the memories and said she is proud of the scripts that she wrote down through the years.
Irish Independent
23-04-2025
- General
- Irish Independent
Cork principal warns proposed reform of senior cycle would entail flood of AI-generated project work
Aaron Woulfe is Principal of Coláiste Éamonn Rís in Deerpark and says that the proposed changing of the bands of the Junior cycle, following a change that Woulfe maintains wasn't needed in the first place, shows the consequence of the Department of Education ignoring teachers and teaching unions. This week, the major unions, TUI (Teachers Union of Ireland), STI (Secondary Teachers Ireland), and the ASTI (Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland) are all holding their conferences across the country, with the proposed reform of the senior cycle proving the most contentious issue. It comes as the Department of Education attempts to move towards an assessment-based approach to evaluating students. However, Woulfe says while he supports the reform on the whole, the lack of engagement with teachers from the Government could spell disaster for the proposed changes. 'You've got to do reform with consultation, and the people you need to consult with are the teachers, because they're the people on the ground. 'Let's make sure this is not a money-saving exercise from the State Exams Commission so they can cut down on the amount of correctors with less exams,' said the Principal of the school in the city's southern suburbs, adding: 'let's make sure that students have the IT resources that they need to complete the projects, let's ensure we have enough access to science equipment and all equipment so students can complete their projects: WiFi, IT devices. 'Let's make sure we do it correctly.' Woulfe says the move to assessment-based evaluation is likely to mean more work for teachers, in both assisting students in formulating projects, as well as potentially needing to correct projects throughout the year, which brings another set of challenges. 'The question then is did the student complete the project or did AI complete the project? The exam proves that students can study and that they can learn, and project work proves that the student can use ChatGPT. 'The Leaving Cert is a college admittance exam, that's all it is. Why are secondary schools still looking after this, is this not a college problem? Like in America where the colleges look after their own admissions policy. 'All we're focused towards is an exam to get into University. Why hasn't that been looked at as part of the reform?' ADVERTISEMENT Learn more Also announced this week is a move by Government to allow teachers to be made permanent in a school after just one year, down from the current two-year wait. However, Woulfe says the move makes 'no difference at all' to teachers themselves, or to the current teacher shortage. 'Every teacher knows, once you get into a second year in the school, you're there for life. It hasn't changed anything, it just means you're getting the paperwork a year earlier. 'There are no teachers out there because they're all in Australia or Dubai. We have a guidance (councillor) position, zero applicants; two jobs in religion, four applicants; a job in woodwork, four applicants, and we're a desirable place to work, in the middle of Cork city. 'You need to lower the teacher training to one year, target people in the public sector who are not young, had always wanted to become a teacher and probably have great life experience. 'Above all, pay teachers more money. If you want to make teaching attractive, pay them a salary that makes it attractive.'
