In 1989 I came to what was then The West Sussex Institute of Higher Education as a callow 26 year old. I found the first year of teaching hard, but I was lucky to end up sharing a course with Vince. His calm guidance helped me enormously. When we came up against some difficulty (usually due to the then Head of Department's eccentricity), Vince would just smile and we would find a way through. Once a week we would have coffee in the BRC staff room and talk about poetry. Vince's knowledge of, and love for, Irish poetry always impressed me. Thank you Vince for taking me under your wing when I needed it most.