Liam Carey of the Dublin Institute of Adult Education (and originally based in the same premises), and launched by Brian Lenihan TD.
[2] In 1977 a group of AONTAS members set up NALA (National Adult Literacy Agency).
The word aontas (Irish pronunciation: [ˈeːn̪ˠt̪ˠəsˠ]) is Irish for "union", but is also a backronym for Aos Oideachais Náisiúnta Trí Aontú Saorálach, meaning "national adult education through voluntary unification".
Membership of AONTAS includes individuals as well as a number of state bodies such as Education and Training Boards ETBs, community education organisations, trade unions, Institutes of Technology, providers of learning, and community projects amongst others.
Presidents of Aontas have included Sean O'Murchu (1969), Robert Kelleher(1975), Seamus O'Grady(1980), Kevin McBrien(1883), Brendan Conway(1989), Bernie Brady(1990), Mairead Wrynn (1993), Dr. Micheál MacGréil SJ(1994), John Ryan (2002), Liz Waters(2012)[3] and Tara Farrell(2018)[4] The current Chairperson is John D'Arcy, Open University