Page 17 - IFAFA ebook v4

4. Sattie Sharkey

My husband joined the Department as a third secretary in 1970. We were

already married and Jim was working as a teacher. He saw an
advertisement in the paper for the third secretary exam; I encouraged

him to apply, which he did. I am Indian by origin and I grew up in

England where we moved when I was ten. My great grandfather was in the

Imperial Civil Service posted to Burma. I did not know too much about

the diplomatic service. But somewhere in the back of my mind; there was

an awareness of overseas postings and the disruption for families.

We have been on multiple postings. When I met my husband in

Birmingham, he was studying Russian history at the university there.
Accordingly he was chosen to help open the Irish Embassy in Moscow. In

1974. Shortly after that there were postings of varying length in Geneva,

Rome, New York and Belgrade.

In New York, there were many young diplomatic spouses with enough time

for an exchange of ideas. Inevitably the idea of founding a diplomatic

spouses association arose. We held our very first meeting in Bernadette

Hamill’s apartment. It went on from there to find its feet and quickly did

some very good work, above all in relation to children’s education.

There was no great emphasis in the Department on family welfare back

then; one had to grin and bear it. Today things are much better organized.

Postings are planned rather than sporadic. There are language classes for

spouses as well as serving diplomats. Crucially, there is support for school

fees and for children's travel, which helps enormously with education,

especially at secondary level.

Some disadvantages persist. Shockingly children who were born abroad to
diplomatic families on active service cannot automatically pass their Irish

citizenship to their own children in the same way as children born in

Ireland. This is a matter of great concern and should be rectified right

away. I have three boys two of whom were born overseas while we were on

diplomatic duty. They are currently living abroad and their children were

born abroad.

After Rome, we were in Washington D.C. where I got a degree and then a

Masters in Psychology. That helped me to get a job as a lecturer at the
College of Surgeons when we came back to Ireland. I have always used my

nursing background and degrees in psychology to work. In Japan, I helped

write a bilingual textbook on peritoneal dialysis and end stage kidney

disease but I had to be discreet about it because back then it wasn’t fully

acceptable for an ambassador’s spouse to be in employment. At least in

Tokyo.

While in Japan, we had to send two of our boys back to Ireland to

boarding school. It was important for them to get to know Ireland as they
had spent so much of their lives abroad, even more so as their mother is

not Irish; and also to get the benefit of an Irish education. The

Department's assistance was a great advantage with the boys’ secondary

education.

I am very proud to be one of the founding members of IFAFA. Like others

my family and I have benefited from their continuing engagement with

the Department. IFAFA has succeeded far beyond what we could have

imagined in those early days in New York.

All our family, including our three sons, consider ourselves both lucky

and honoured to have the privilege of serving Ireland abroad. Despite all

the adornment and pageantry of diplomatic life, we have always tried to

keep our feet solidly on the ground. This has certainly helped us keep

grounded and sensible now that we are in our retirement years. 8