https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news ... 49983.html
Northern Ireland’s oldest postman has retired after nearly 45 years serving his community, marking the milestone by celebrating his 75th birthday.
Liam O’Rourke, who lives in Convoy, Co Donegal, started delivering the post in Omagh, Co Tyrone when he joined Royal Mail at the age of 31.
He previously worked in jobs for a number of firms before applying to join the postal service.
After a few years on the door-to-door beat, he took up a role working at the Omagh sorting office, where he marked his last day in the job on Wednesday.
“I guess I was the oldest and now I’m retired,” Liam told the Belfast Telegraph.
“I did love the job. It was quite the experience. I put a lot into it and there was highs and lows, but mostly highs.”
Liam said he took the role of handling the public’s mail seriously, explaining: “Just generally, you have to have a certain amount of security about it and respect for other people. You have to ensure that things keep moving along.
“I’d been based in the office for about 35 years, sorting mail for delivery, doing the wages and things like that.”
He has witnessed the job transform over the years from hands-on to the advent of machines to sort the mail, speeding up the process.
The Donegal man said his last day in his job, which was first reported by the Ulster Herald, was “just another day in the office”, but his colleagues helped ensure it was memorable.
“I didn’t do anything different, really. I didn’t want a fuss, but there was sandwiches, cakes and buns,” he added.
Delivering the post is something of a family trade for Liam, with his sons Paul and Richard based in the Omagh office and his grandson Kyle having been a postman for five years.
“Richard mainly worked with me and Kyle gets his mail from the Omagh office in the morning and goes to Dromore to deliver it,” he said.
One demand of the role Liam is more than happy to say goodbye to is the eye-watering early starts.
“The last while, especially since Covid, I’ve been getting up for work at 1am and getting into work for 2am, driving from Donegal, then my shift would end at 5.30pm,” he said.
“The way we worked was a three-day week, doing double shifts.”
Now that he has extra free time on his hands, Liam is planning to get more involved with his local Gaelic football team.
“I do a bit of training and I’m involved with the senior team a bit as well” he said.
“I’ve a big interest in the county team as well. I’ve plenty to keep me going.”
With more than four decades of memories to look back on at the Omagh office, Liam has plenty of memories, good and bad.
Among the worst is Omagh’s darkest moment: the day the Real IRA blew up the town centre. The atrocity, on August 15, 1998, killed 29 people, including a woman pregnant with twins, nine children and three generations of one family.
It was the single biggest tragedy of the Troubles, and took place three months after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement.
“I was working that Saturday. It never leaves you. [In] the aftermath... the photographers, the post office was overrun with Press doing stories. They used the roof of the post office because it was the highest point in the town for photographs.”
He also recalled the official visit to Omagh by then United States president Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary, who mourned with the victims of the attack a month later.
“It was a big thing when he came, all the security that surrounded him,” Liam told the Belfast Telegraph
“Loads of things happened over the years. All sorts of things happened during the Troubles, but the last 20 years, it has settled down and been good.
“During those early years it was rough, though.”
ANNOUNCEMENT : ALL OF ROYAL MAIL'S EMPLOYMENT POLICIES (AGREEMENTS) AT A GLANCE (Updated 2021)... HERE
ANNOUNCEMENT : PLEASE BE AWARE WE ARE NOT ON FACEBOOK AT ALL!
Final delivery as NI's oldest postman retires aged 75
-
- FORUM ADMINISTRATOR
- Posts: 69390
- Joined: 30 Dec 2006, 10:29
- Gender: Male
- Location: Proud to be part of the Union
Final delivery as NI's oldest postman retires aged 75
All post by me in Green are Admin Posts.
Any post in any other colour is my own responsibility.
If you like a news story I posted please click the link to show support
Any news stories you can't post - PM me with a link
"Employers are always seeking more productivity from workers, without considering the human factor, the worker's age, the weather conditions and the intense heat. We need to intervene before it's too late, reducing working hours and the load carried by workers, because it's impossible to sustain the rhythm they're forced to work at for many years."
Any post in any other colour is my own responsibility.
If you like a news story I posted please click the link to show support
Any news stories you can't post - PM me with a link
"Employers are always seeking more productivity from workers, without considering the human factor, the worker's age, the weather conditions and the intense heat. We need to intervene before it's too late, reducing working hours and the load carried by workers, because it's impossible to sustain the rhythm they're forced to work at for many years."
-
- EX ROYAL MAIL
- Posts: 261
- Joined: 15 Oct 2019, 21:25
- Gender: Male
Re: Final delivery as NI's oldest postman retires aged 75
Wishing a happy retirement, sounds like a top bloke
-
- Posts: 149
- Joined: 23 Apr 2007, 07:40
Re: Final delivery as NI's oldest postman retires aged 75
Must be something about this part of the world as I know at least 6 staff into their 70’s and still working full time. Best wishes for retirement
-
- EX ROYAL MAIL
- Posts: 4963
- Joined: 13 Sep 2007, 23:37
- Gender: Male
Re: Final delivery as NI's oldest postman retires aged 75
Enjoy your retirement!
Looking good for 75!
Looking good for 75!
-
- Posts: 4221
- Joined: 29 Apr 2009, 20:05
- Gender: Male
Re: Final delivery as NI's oldest postman retires aged 75
I hope he enjoys his retirement. It's a shanme that the Business probably won't recognise all those years of service with a suitable long service award.
Imagine what you might expect to get in another industry with 45! years service?
Imagine what you might expect to get in another industry with 45! years service?
Like all Wage Slaves, he had two crosses to bear: The people he worked for and the people he worked with! (Stephen Vizinczey.)