'When the time came for me to leave Rwanda I began to realise how much it meant to me'

'When the time came for me to leave Rwanda I began to realise how much it meant to me'

Frank remembers leaving Rwanda and being made redundant.

Frank Gaynor

Trinity College Dublin

2007

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Frank Gaynor

Work and Employment

Life Story

Maynooth, County Kildare

2000's

When the time came for me to leave Rwanda I began to realise how much it meant to me. I was satisfied that I had done the job I was sent out to do. During my time calm and confidence had returned to the Kigali office, Trocaire's profile had been raised in government and donor circles, and the Papal Nuncio had become a solid supporter of Trocaire. I had great respect for the people of Rwanda. They had many reasons to be sad and angry and depressed, and yet they were friendly, energetic and full of hope. Kigali was a pleasant, clean, and safe place to live. It seemed to be improving all the time. I had spent happy hours relaxing by the swimming pool at Hotel des Mille Collines, which featured in the film 'Hotel Rwanda'. I had good memories from Kigali Golf Club, where I was a member. I had birdied every hole on the course at different times, but failed to string together even one good 18 holes.I had also very good reason to be grateful for the Philipino dentist I met in Kigali. I went along with a slight toothache. Following an x - ray she decided to remove an eye tooth. The end of the tooth looked like a rusty nail due to long - term infection. Along with that tooth went the headache that had plagued me for over 15 years. It was a wonderful relief, and I was finally able to enjoy a beer again. When Richard arrived to replace me he was in a hurry to take control. I had prepared handover notes, but at the time he did not seem interested. When I met with him a year later he told me that he had re - read my notes many times, and found them very helpful. I asked the staff not to come to the airport to say farewell when I was leaving. I knew it would be a very emotional moment for me, and I wanted to avoid that.Back in Maynooth I resumed working part - time on the Balkans, and travelled a few times to meet with our partners there. While I was in Rwanda a new Head of Department had been appointed, and a strategic planning and restructuring process had got under way. A few buzz words had been added to the correspondence, and we were now 'rolling out' and 'going forward'. It was still a pleasant place to work. Some months after my return I heard that all the staff in the Kigali office had been let go. I was shocked and furious. Rwanda was no longer part of my brief, but I believed that I had a duty to speak up for those in Kigali who had risked much on behalf of Trocaire. I met with Justin and requested that he reverse the decision. Once again he listened carefully to what I had to say. About a week later I learned that all the staff had been reinstated.I was ticking along nicely, enjoying life, until I had that stroke I mentioned at the beginning. After being out for one year Mary Healy invited me back to Maynooth to manage a file of missionaries who were in danger of being overlooked due to the introduction of a new geographical focus. As Trocaire became more focused it reduced its worldwide presence from around 60 countries to about 35. Some countries, like Brazil, which had a strong Irish missionary presence were not on the revised list. My task was to work with some of Trocaire's long - term partners in these countries. This was a perfect fit for me, and for the next 8 months I travelled to Maynooth two days each week. However, the Long Corridor had changed. The laughter and fun was gone. In every office I looked into I saw someone crouched under heavy earphones skyping about some urgent matter. Over lunch I heard much complaining. The strategic planning and restructuring process had upset staff in different ways, and turned the place into a much more bureaucratic institution. Staff meetings had become competitions to see which department could come up with the best powerpoint presentation. The celtic tiger was in a trot and Irish Aid had more money than it could spend; it needed NGOs to help with the spending. Small projects were time consuming, so Irish Aid said it would support programmes, but not projects. Trocaire needed to change its approach if it was to avail of any Irish Aid funding. That was soon taken care of. A consultant was engaged. An evaluation report was produced. The report recommended that Trocaire switch from projects to programmes, the money rolled in and Trocaire expanded rapidly. Mary Healy resigned from Trocaire in June 2008. She left Maynooth on a Friday. I was summoned to a meeting with the Head of Department the following Monday. No tap on the shoulder this time, or sharing of sponge and custard. The one - to - one meeting was posted on the intranet by Joanne, whose desk was two metres from mine. The meeting took place in the room next door. There were no preliminaries about the work I was doing. I was simply told that I had become surplus to requirements, and that my contract was being terminated. I was very disappointed that my relationship with Trocaire, and my working life, should end that way. As I walked away the banking disaster was about to explode, and Trocaire was about to enter a contraction phase. I was glad I was going to miss that. It was time to start focusing on active retirement.

Irish Research Council for Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences (IRCHSS)

Dr Kathleen McTiernan (Trinity College Dublin)

Dr Deirdre O'Donnell (Trinity College Dublin)