Michael Martin (53) is the founder of Titanic Trails. A retired naval officer, he lives in Cobh with his wife, Ger. Their two sons, Gary (23) and Ken (25) work abroad.
I’m an early riser so I wake up around 7.30am. I read the papers on my iPhone before I get up. Breakfast is quite light, usually tea and spelt bread before I move on to office work.
When I first came up with the idea for Titanic Trails back in 1998, people laughed. They said ‘who would want to walk around Cobh? This is in industrial town, not a tourist one’. Equally, when I was campaigning to get Spike Island recognised as a heritage site, I was ignored, ridiculed and ostracised. Spike was used at all major points in Irish history, from the monastic to the War of Independence and there was a unique opportunity to preserve it. After four years of campaigning, the Government conceded and handed the island over to Cork County Council. However, the funny thing about Irish politics is that there was no acknowledgment of my involvement. My sons thought it was terrible but in reality, when I put my head down on the pillow at night I know what I did and I get great satisfaction from that.
People see you in different contexts and I think Cobh associates me more with Titanic. That wasn’t always the case. I’m from Dublin, from a working class family and I left school at 15. There were 11 children in my family, which was quite big. You do wonder now how we lived like that.
At 16, I found myself in Cork volunteering with the Simon Community, where I gained a wonderful perspective on the city. The generosity of the ordinary people is astounding. We used to do a run with a child’s pram from the house on John’s Street and a number of businesses, from bakeries to fish shops, would give us food for the homeless. When I was in the navy, I would bring buddies up to Dublin at the weekends. After telling my mother about Simon, she’d assume that they were all hungry and she always insisted on big meals for everyone, whether they had a Cork accent or not! She also felt obliged to help anyone from Cork, as on my first visit to the city, I hitchhiked in with a friend. It was midnight when we got to the outskirts of Blackpool so we decided to sleep in a bus shelter for the night! The next morning, people coming from Farranree and Gurranabraher were giving us their lunches. My mother- for the rest of her life- felt indebted to feed Cork people in return.
I joined the navy at 17. It was always a secret wish of mine. My two older brothers had gone off to sea when I was very young and we’d get letters back about flying fish in the Indian Ocean and silk jackets in Japan. However, they were on a merchant ship and I didn’t know at the time that the Irish Navy was never going to Japan! Within two years onboard, I was singled out for a promotion but took up an apprenticeship instead as an engine room artificer. I always had an insatiable appetite for new knowledge. One of the highlights of my naval career was the building of a ship in Verolme Dockyard in Cobh, complete with helicopter pad and automatic weapons. I witnessed this amazing spectacle being built from the bottom up; every nut, bolt, screw and machine… it was a fantastic experience.
In 1987 and at the age of 28, I became the youngest person in Ireland to be promoted to the rank of Warrant Officer in Ireland. At the same time, there was concern over neglect of pay and services for serving soldiers. It was felt the reason they had fallen behind other uniformed services was because they had no union. The Government didn’t respond at all, as it would underwrite its command.
Involved in this challenge, we found that the Constitution stated that all citizens have the right to associate. I gave an interview from Denmark and was immediately in breach of regulations and we sought an injunction in the High Court to stop me being charged until the constitutional case was heard, which was granted. However, before the case finished, the Government relented, and introduced new legislation allowing for two representative organisations for the armed forces, which still remain to this day.
That was a big part of my life and something I take great pride in. After being elected General Secretary of the Permanent Defence Force Other Ranks Representative Association, which meant flying into Germany on the day of reunification to meet with East German soldiers to teach them about democracy and sitting with soldiers in Prague before they separated from Czechoslovakia, I went back to the navy to serve with the UN in Lebanon.
That was the most impressionable period in my life. You learn to appreciate what we have here in Ireland. We can bring our kids to school safely, and no matter how long you have to wait in an emergency department, there is no one stopping you from going there. I witnessed Lebanese citizens, who only wanted to cross a barrier to bring their child to the hospital being impeded by Israeli soldiers.
One night, we had half-inch shells fired right in on our camp. Thank God, they didn’t kill anyone. However, I did witness helicopters attacking a village indiscriminately. These were realities the people of South Lebanon live with every day so it does grate on me when some of the media says ‘Ireland is on its knees’. If we spent a week in Cairo and saw children in rags or 180,000 people living in a cemetery then we’d know that while we have problems here, in comparison we are lucky.
Nevertheless, there was great optimism out there too. We once had a meeting in the Lebanese city of Tyre and travelled up through areas with some firing while pockets of the city itself were also destroyed. On arriving, we put our weapons under the chairs and our flak jackets on the back; before a guy came in with great enthusiasm and started talking about tourism… it was wonderful!
I always planned to leave the Navy by the time I was 40, which for me was a watershed age. When you have a family, your perspective does change somewhat. It’s not like you love the sea any less, you just love your family more. I remember being out for three weeks when Ger was eight months pregnant with our first son. There was a dreadful storm and she just started crying out of relief when I came through the door. However, within three minutes the alarm hooters went off and someone else was in trouble out at sea. It’s a career that you never question or complain about because if someone is in trouble, you have to stop at nothing to get there. However, I felt that I wanted to get out into the world and do other things.
I’d love to have my time over. There are lots of things I’d like to get my teeth into… a lifetime is just too short! Education was a huge thing for me and I always felt that I missed out on something. In my ignorance though, I never looked into what was involved in going to university and always thought it was out of my reach financially. When mum and dad died within 16 weeks of each other, they left behind a small amount of money so I said I’d put mam’s money towards university. It turned out though she gave me a double gift, as I discovered that your primary degree doesn’t cost anything anyway!
In 2004 I did a degree in history, and later proposed a PHD thesis, which was accepted in UCC. I spent seven months in Berkley as part of an Irish/ America scholar exchange programme. For that, I’m totally indebted to Ger who suffered financial hardship because of my decision. During my time in Berkley, I wasn’t earning but she wouldn’t contemplate anything else other than my going there. My most cherished memory would be graduating and the conferring of the doctorate. However, like most people, I do tend to wonder if I really deserve it.
Away from the navy and university, a typical day now sees me organising tours, meeting advertisers for the Cobh What’s On Guide or meeting representatives from Tourism Ireland- it varies enormously. After the 11am walking tour, I usually have lunch with Ger. Something like bruschetta with tomato, basil and mozzarella. We have dinner at home. Ger is a good cook and I’m a simple eater, although I used to think I had exotic tastes many years ago! Now it’s something like roast lamb or our own Chinese and stir-fries.
I love reading and I also find great escapism in the movies. My abiding love is hill-walking, although I haven’t done that for a while.
Heading off to bed, my last thought is about my sons and my wife. My youngest is working on the Queen Mary II as a concierge and our other son flew to Australia this week for a year. I think it’s great for them to see the world, to work, while also gaining knowledge. In the end, for me, that’s what it’s all about.
One night, we had half-inch shells fired right in on our camp. Thank God, they didn’t kill anyone. However, I did witness helicopters attacking a village indiscriminately. These were realities the people of South Lebanon live with every day so it does grate on me when some of the media says ‘Ireland is on its knees’. If we spent a week in Cairo and saw children in rags or 180,000 people living in a cemetery then we’d know that while we have problems here, in comparison we are lucky.
Nevertheless, there was great optimism out there too. We once had a meeting in the Lebanese city of Tyre and travelled up through areas with some firing while pockets of the city itself were also destroyed. On arriving, we put our weapons under the chairs and our flak jackets on the back; before a guy came in with great enthusiasm and started talking about tourism… it was wonderful!
I always planned to leave the Navy by the time I was 40, which for me was a watershed age. When you have a family, your perspective does change somewhat. It’s not like you love the sea any less, you just love your family more. I remember being out for three weeks when Ger was eight months pregnant with our first son. There was a dreadful storm and she just started crying out of relief when I came through the door. However, within three minutes the alarm hooters went off and someone else was in trouble out at sea. It’s a career that you never question or complain about because if someone is in trouble, you have to stop at nothing to get there. However, I felt that I wanted to get out into the world and do other things.
I’d love to have my time over. There are lots of things I’d like to get my teeth into… a lifetime is just too short! Education was a huge thing for me and I always felt that I missed out on something. In my ignorance though, I never looked into what was involved in going to university and always thought it was out of my reach financially. When mum and dad died within 16 weeks of each other, they left behind a small amount of money so I said I’d put mam’s money towards university. It turned out though she gave me a double gift, as I discovered that your primary degree doesn’t cost anything anyway!
