Don O'Leary, former director of Cork Life Centre, dies aged 68

Don O’Leary outside the Cork Life Centre in 2022. File picture: Darragh Kane

Don O’Leary, the former director of the Cork Life Centre, has died at the age of 68.

Mr O'Leary, who was a former member of Cork City Council, had been diagnosed with lung cancer in 2021. 

Joining in 2006, he spent 18 years as director of the alternative education centre in Sundays Well, which caters for young people who are not properly served by the education system.

He resigned from his position at the end of 2023.

On Friday, the Cork Life Centre said its community is deeply saddened by the passing of its former director.

“His impact on the centre and our young people, over the course of almost two decades in the role, was immense and his loss will be sincerely felt by all.” 

It added: “The best way to honour Don's work and contribution to the Cork Life Centre will be to keep doing what we've always done and being who we have always been.

“We remain committed to serving our young people with integrity and respect by providing a safe, holistic learning environment for our young people to pursue their right to an education and step into their full potential.

“The centre will carry forward the legacy we have been given and do all we can to ensure the sustainability of this wonderful organisation into the future.” 

In 2022, he was also presented with the Lord Mayor’s civic award for his work in education.

On Friday, Cork City Council said Don O’Leary and the team at Cork Life Centre “ensured that young people facing challenges in their lives did not lose out on an education”. 

“At a time when many young people felt left behind by mainstream education systems, Don stood firmly on the side of inclusion, compassion and possibility."

'His legacy will endure'

Lord Mayor of Cork Councillor Fergal Dennehy said Mr O’Leary was “fearless in his advocacy, often challenging authority with honesty and conviction". 

“His legacy will endure not only in the centre he helped create, but in the lives transformed by his dedication.

“I would like to extend my condolences, on behalf of Cork City Council, to Don’s family, and to his former colleagues at the Cork Life Centre.

In the 1980s, Mr O’Leary served three years in Portlaoise Prison for IRA membership.

Remarking on the case to the Irish Examiner, he said: “When I got to court, a superintendent said I was a member of the IRA, I said I was not and the judge took the word of the superintendent.” 

He won a seat for Sinn Féin on Cork City Council in 1999 but was forced to stand down in 2000 following ill health.

Mr O’Leary received an honoray doctorate from University College Cork in 2021 in recognition of his work with the Cork Life Centre.

Accepting the doctorate, Mr O'Leary said his own journey through education led him down many avenues.

"Initially when I completed my Leaving Cert I would have loved to be a teacher. Given the times and the fact that I was the eldest of 11 siblings, that wasn’t on the cards."

He returned to education via the Open University on "a long holiday" he took in Portlaoise, he said.

"Then I was lucky enough to land in UCC as a mature student, where I studied Youth and Community Work, a very enriching experience."

Mr O'Leary is survived by his wife Betty, children Don and Eilis, and grandchildren Daniel, James, Eoin, and Cian

In 2022, Mr O'Leary appeared on The Mick Clifford Podcast to discuss his life and career. You can listen to that conversation below.