Local Faces – Eddie Potts

OVER the last five years, Eddie Potts has become a familiar face to the children and families of those who attend the Barnardos pre-school in Millbrook Lawns, Tallaght in his role as a minibus driver.

Eddie, 69, transports 15 children from Tallaght between the ages of two-and-a-half and five-years-old to the pre-school, and he delights in seeing their progress during their time in the service.

The pre-school service is referral based, and some of the issues that affect the parents of the children who attend include addiction, domestic violence, poor mental health and poverty.

The term for the pre-school runs from September to July each year, and while a lot of the children have initial trepidation about getting on the minibus and going to pre-school, they tend to settle in quickly.

“I do see in September every year, that some of the little toddlers would be clinging to their mammies, and there might be some little cries,” Eddie told The Echo.

“But then, as the weeks roll on, I see those children starting to settle in.

“When I arrive at their houses, the kids are looking out and they’re running up with their mammies to get on the bus.”

Eddie transports 15 children from Tallaght to the pre-school in Millbrook Lawns 

Eddie’s own childhood was initially spent on Corrib Road in Terenure, in housing that was built for Guinness employees, as his father worked for the company.

In 1959, Eddie, then aged seven, moved to Walkinstown with his family and he began to attend St Agnes’ National School in Crumlin.

Moving from Terenure, which Eddie remembered as containing row upon row of houses, to the comparatively rural environs of Walkinstown was a welcome change for the young boy.

“We lived on St Peter’s Road in Walkinstown,” Eddie explained.

“You’d only need to walk a quarter of a mile and you’d be in fields, and you could pick blackberries and see cows, but on Corrib Road it was just houses.”

Eddie’s own childhood was spent initially in Terenure, before moving to Walkinstown when he was seven

Eddie finished school after he sat his Inter Cert, aged 17, in 1971, and in later years worked in factories and as a salesman, and was later promoted to a sales rep, for a Dublin-based poultry company.

However, he still lived in Walkinstown and one evening, when he was in his local pub, The Cherry Tree, he met local woman Mary Lawlor, who he went on to marry in 1982.

The young couple initially lived in Clondalkin before moving to Kingswood for over a decade. Mary and Eddie then wanted to experience country life and moved to a small town in Laois, before moving back to Dublin in 2016, and then moving into Mary’s old family home in Walkinstown in 2019.

In the intervening years, the couple raised their children Richard, 38, Yvonne, 37, Daniel, 34, and Amy, 28, and have become grandparents of seven children.

Eddie and wife Mary have four children and seven grandchildren

Their grandchildren, Alisha, Adam, Zoe, Louis, Freddie, Amira and Libby, range in age from 15 months to ten years, and Eddie has also become something of a grandfatherly figure to the children who attend Barnardos.

But Eddie’s role in Barnardos came about by chance. In 2007, Eddie took redundancy from the poultry company and began working as a taxi driver. Some of his experiences as a late-night taxi driver inform his attitude towards his role in Barnardos, which he took up in 2016.

“Going from driving a taxi at night and dealing with adults, and now all of a sudden you’re driving a bus collecting toddlers – you’re getting both extremes,” he explained.

“But when I was driving the taxi, I learned that no matter who I met, it was important to respect everybody.

“Being a taxi driver, I always loved the interaction, because everybody that gets in is a new person.”

“I fell into this job, and doing it…it’s the happiest I’ve ever been in any job.”

Eddie became aware of the vacancy for the minibus driver for Barnardos in Millbrook Lawns as his wife, Mary, works as a child and family support worker for the service, and she encouraged him to apply.

“I was doing a lot of night work in the taxi, and in 2016 she said there was a job for a bus driver in Barnardos,” said Eddie.

“I said that I thought I might be too old for them to take me on for the job, but I applied.”

After passing the interview process, Eddie was offered the job which, five years later, he describes as being the happiest role he’s had throughout the entirety of his working life.

“I get to see the kids blossom and bloom throughout the year,” he said. “I’m privileged to be able to do this job.

“I fell into this job, and doing it…it’s the happiest I’ve ever been in any job. This is the best experience I’ve ever had, and the people in Barnardos are fantastic.”

The greatest satisfaction for Eddie comes from seeing the difference the pre-school makes to the children who get on the bus, and getting to know them and their families over the course of the term.

“Some of the children come to us from families that are struggling,” he said. “As the weeks go on, you see that they’re happy, they’re laughing and they’re excited.”