I’ve never been a great one to plan ahead

There are some people who lay their lives out in front of them and they follow a certain path and everything seems to work out for them. They know what they want so they go and get it. These are the kind of people who, if they were asked in an interview where they would see themselves in five years’ time, would be able to give a proper answer. They are a dream for the career guidance teachers. Then there are others who fly by the seat of their pants and deal with things as they arise. They couldn’t tell you what they will be doing in five months’ time, never mind five years and that’s the group that I belong to.

My late father was a small time building contractor and as far back as I can remember I always wanted to work with him when I left school. I spent most of my school holidays messing around on building sites and I loved it. This is what I was going to do and I didn’t have much of an interest in doing anything else. So I served an apprenticeship and worked away happily for a few years until one day I went to the hardware store in the van to get some bags of cement. As I pulled up outside the store there was a thunder shower so I had to stay put until the rain stopped.

Decision to become a policeman

While I was sitting there the local garda car passed by and it was travelling at about fifteen miles an hour. As it passed I nodded to the two gardai and they saluted me back. They were in their shirt sleeves and they were nice and clean while I was in a dirty pair of overalls which would soon get even dirtier. I watched the car as it went to the end of the town and then it came back and passed me again. It was still driving slowly and I couldn’t help but notice that the guys seemed totally relaxed. There didn’t seem to be any prospect of them getting wet or dirty. Soon after that, the rain stopped and I collected my bags of cement and delivered them to the site. Then I went home, had a shower and went down to the local garda station and I told the sergeant that I wanted to join up. I didn’t wait to discuss it with anybody or take time to consider the decision, I just went for it. That was in 1978 and a year later I became a member of An Garda Siochana and went on to serve in that organisation for thirty five and a half years.

The lure of Chernobyl

In the early nineties I was driving a patrol car on the north side of the city when I was asked to escort a bus to the City Hall. It was full of children who were travelling from Shannon Airport and they were on their way to meet the Lord Mayor when they got stuck in traffic in Blackpool. They had come from Belarus and they were kids who had been affected by the fallout as a result of the accident at the nuclear power plant in Chernobyl. I went into the City Hall with them and stayed for a while and I was fascinated with the whole story. I went back to work and when I finished my shift at 2pm I got into my car to go home. As I drove down Silversprings Lane I thought about those kids and I was trying to decide whether to go back to town again or to just go home. At the last miniute I turned right and headed for City Hall where I met a guy called Simon Walsh. That started a relationship with children affected by the Chernobyl accident that was to last for the next twenty five years.

On the spot decisions

These two decisions that I made on the spur of the moment had huge consequences for me and the road that I travelled. The amount of friends I have made and the experiences that I have had as a result of these decisions are impossible to quantify and I wouldn’t change any of it. The experience of being involved in bringing humanitarian aid convoys to the Chernobyl affected areas of Belarus and Western Russia was mind blowing and I have made so many close friends as a result of those trips.

I get a little amused when I hear youngsters fretting about their exam results and the number of points they need and how the world is going to fall down around their ears if they don’t reach their target. I know there is a lot of pressure on many of them to succeed either placed on them by themselves or others but things have a way of working themselves out.

Tough duty

I remember being on duty at a festival many years ago and it was on a very hot day in the middle of the summer. One of the lads was put on duty at the edge of the town to keep the traffic moving. The heat of the day and the effect of too many gins the night before took their toll and he took a break sitting on a wall with his back resting against a pole. He duly fell asleep while the traffic ground to a halt around him. He was approached by an irate superintendent who was spitting with temper and challenged him for an explanation. “Well”, he said, “sometimes I think you’re better off to just let things work themselves out”. It wasn’t really the explanation that the superintendent was expecting.

Things have worked out for me so far but don’t even think of asking me where I see myself in five years’ time.