WHEN DESCRIBING A run-of-the-mill day in the life of former politician, Seán Connick – the word ‘varied’ springs to mind. As CEO of the John F Kennedy Trust, where he leads the daily operation of one of Ireland’s premier tourist attractions – the Dunbrody Famine Ship Experience – the New Ross native is a master of multitasking with no one day resembling the next.

If we look back over his career, Seán is arguably most well-known for his foray into politics. He describes his political journey as a ‘rollercoaster’ but it’s the path that led him to his current position:

I entered politics in 1999 at local council level, and I was good at it. By 2004, I was progressing through the ranks thanks to political networking. In 2007 I was elected to the Dáil, 2010 appointed to Junior Minister and 2011 we lost the seat. So, it was straight to the top and then boom! back down and then we had to reinvent ourselves. In 2014 the opportunity arose here to apply for the Chief Executive position. It’s a project I’ve been around since 1988, I served on the board, politically I was heavily involved and so I went for it… and got it.

Working in the tourism sector and being a high profile advocate for people with disabilities, we wanted to find out more about Seán’s day to day life, what excites him about his career and what advice he would offer others keen to dip their toes into the world of tourism.

What does a typical day look like for you?

Like any day, a typical day starts for me at 9am and it would initially involve a review of emails, you’d look at your scheduled meetings and set out the plan for the week, what are the problems and how do we deal with them. There are lots of components to this job, we look at the performance of the week and the various visitors numbers. Have we reached the target for the week/month? We’d also be looking at the retail area and putting a plan in place for the week ahead looking at the tourists and what, if any, up and coming events.

The day is so varied, as an example last week we held the Kennedy summer school, so I was assisting getting the events to the park, and I was also MCing and the interviewer at that event.

Newstalk are on site at the moment and we’ve facilitated them broadcasting live from the visitor centre. Similarly, the Taoiseach was doing an opening we have a lunch catering for 200 people, it’s a lot. So, the general event management of everything is big, it’s a very varied and busy day and every day is different. 

You’ve held your position since 2014, what excites you still about the role?

I’m passionate about my town, I always have been. I got into politics in 1999 to improve New Ross as a town and The John F Kennedy Trust was set up to tackle the social and economic disadvantages around the town of New Ross and its environment. I’ve been part of that journey and story and I enjoy doing that. I’ve witnessed the project here and have been part of the delivery in excess of 15 million euro investment. What motivates me is improving the fabric of the town of New Ross, its reputation developing and delivering tourist attractions and it’s probably a deeper motivation for me, it’s not a personal motivation at this stage of my life, it’s more about the people of the town. 

What career advice would you have for people who want to enter the tourism sector?

Obviously, it’s like any career – you go in at a particular level and you work your way up. There are going to be aspects that you like or dislike but if you like the tourism sector and you like people, it’s a great area to work in. If you show initiative, you’ll see that people reward that in this industry. They hold onto the good staff. Careers are built on experience, and the more varied the work the higher the skill set. Whether it’s sweeping the floor on a project or coming in as a tour guide and working your way through, the structures within the tourism sector are excellent training grounds.

Would you encourage people with disabilities to enter your industry and what advice would you have for them?

There are excellent training opportunities available now for people with disabilities. From a disability aspect there are many opportunities, there are people who liaise with you directly, there’s onsite accommodation available, we’re living in a different era from before. We thought we were progressive at the time, but it’s clear to see that the advocacy for people with disabilities have changed and the higher profile of people with disabilities encourage that and help the situation and inspire. You can get a job at that level, and you can work at that level with a disability, there’s so many options out there. 

If you want to find out more about building stronger and more inclusive workplaces, check out Fáilte Ireland’s Recruitment Toolkit.