Educational Establishments
GETTING Personal...
Eamonn Murphy - happy with his lot, especially if Katherine Jenkins and Holly Willoughby are around!
Who are you? Eamonn Murphy, Grounds & Gardens Manager, Haileybury.
Family status? Live with my lovely sixteen year old daughter Yasmin.
Who’s your hero and why? Jose Mourinho, Chelsea Manager: a great man, manager and leader.
environmentally focused. We have purchased several pieces of kit - chainsaws, blowers, strimmers, hedgecutters and mowers - that are battery operated to help reduce our carbon footprint. We have instigated a compost tea fertiliser programme, which has greatly reduced the amount of inorganic product being applied needlessly to the soil.” “I firmly believe that it will only be a question of time, in the near future, that inorganic products and chemicals are banned from being used at educational sites, similar to the legislation in Europe and North America. We like to be one step ahead, if possible.” “We keep aware of all industry developments and best
practice in terms of environment and sustainability.” “It is our intention to construct a wildflower meadow in one of our dormant fields in the near future,” Eamonn confirms. “As I stated earlier, working at Haileybury has been the highlight of my career so far. It has opened up so many opportunities to learn new procedures and techniques. And it also gave me the opportunity to be involved in a pitch project in Almaty, Kazakhstan as an advisor/consultant.” “The project involved transforming a former Russian
army pitch into the national Kazakhstan rugby pitch,” explains Eamonn. “This project came about because Haileybury has recently opened Haileybury Almaty, one of our two sister schools in Kazakhstan, and some of the rugby sessions at the school in Almaty were undertaken by the captain of the first team.” “The Kazakhstan Rugby Union were hearing good
reports about our first team pitch in the UK and, with the kind permission of the Bursar, I was invited, on several occasions, to travel over to Almaty to assist and consult on the improvement, care and maintenance of their pitch.” “So, within two hours of landing at Almaty airport,
following a seven hour flight, I found myself deep in discussion with the president of the Kazakhstan Rugby Union - a meeting that (mainly due to translation) lasted three hours!”
“Consulting on the project was a fantastic opportunity and something that, although providing lots of logistical difficulties, was a rewarding, yet challenging experience. But that’s another story for another time!”
What would you change about yourself? To have some hair on my head to brush!
What’s your guilty pleasure? No pleasures are ever guilty for me!
What’s been the highlight of your career so far? Working at Haileybury, which arguably has some of the best and most beautiful sports pitches in the UK. In terms of a specific project: assisting the Kazakhstan Rugby Union in transforming a former Soviet Union military rugby pitch into a pitch to be used by the national Kazakhstan Rugby team at Haileybury Almaty, one of our two sister schools in Kazakhstan.
Which three people, living or dead, would you invite to a dinner party? Billy Connolly, for pre and post meal entertainment; Katherine Jenkins, purely for her singing ability of course! and David Attenborough, for discussions during the meal to tell stories about all the places he has visited.
If you could be anyone for a day, who would it be and why? TV personality Joey Essex, just to see what it would be like in his world.
Do you have any bad habits? I have an equal amount of good and bad!
Do you go to bed worrying about the next day’s workload? Not generally, I enjoy my job, even when there’s a challenge!
What are you reading at the moment? Never really been a book reader but, when I do, it tends to be sport autobiographies; the latest one I read was Roy Keane’s autobiography.
What are your pet peeves? Arrogance, bad manners, and ‘know it alls’.
If you could go anywhere right now, where would it be? The Moon.
What’s the best part of your job? Satisfaction of being part of team that has produced work to a high standard. Coming to work each day in a beautiful environment and working on some of the best pitches in the UK.
... and the worst? Being constantly asked what the weather forecast is going to be, either for that day or the future.
Do you have a lifetime ambition? Sounds like a cliché, but I would love to see as much of the world as possible.
Favourite record, and why? That’s a difficult one; it all depends in the mood I am in…at the moment, it’s Happy by Pharrell Williams.
Who would you choose to spend a romantic evening with? Holly Willoughby.
If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you would do? It would depend on how much I won … I am not one of those people who say they would continue working; I would retire and travel.
If you were to describe yourself as a musical instrument, what would you be and why? A pencil and enough stuff to beat it on to get a good sound. I go to the beat of my own drum.
What’s the best advice you have ever been given? Always do the right thing and, regardless of the outcome or consequence, keep doing the right thing.
What’s your favourite smell? Freshly baked bread.
What do you do in your spare time? Watch and play sport.
What’s the daftest work related question you have ever been asked? I get asked so many, as I am sure we all do in this industry. I was recently asked if we could rake off the frost just prior to a football game!
What’s your favourite piece of kit? Amazone, because of its versatility and end result.
What three words would you use to describe yourself? Confident, level headed and relaxed.
What talent would you like to have? Psychic powers … so I could predict the lottery numbers.
What law/legislation would you like to see introduced? Introduction of three day weekends!
PC FEBRUARY/MARCH 2015 I 83
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