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Paul sails into Swilly sunset
11.01.08
BUNCRANA Town Clerk
Paul Doyle who has just announced his retirement
says he's looking forward to indulging his passion
for sailing Lough Swilly.
His trusty 40-year old timber sailing boat 'Goose
Girl' is currently berthed for the winter at Fahan
Marina but the long-serving council official is now
looking to the future and many more days at her
helm.
"I'm a member of Lough Swilly Sailing Club so
hopefully there will be plenty of sailing ahead," he
told InishowenNews.com.
"My boat is a wooden, 40-year old, called 'Goose
Girl' and she's berthed in Fahan." |
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The 57-year Dubliner,
who is from Whitehall, confirmed a locally-held
anecdote about himself and the current leader of the
country.
"Yeah, I was in the same class as Bertie at school.
We both went to St. Adrian's in Whitehall and we're
both around the same age."
While a Dub' by birth, he is a Donegal man by now.
"Sure I'm in Donegal longer than I was in Dublin," he laughed,
admitting that Buncrana was now "in the blood".
He arrived as Buncrana Town Clerk in 1977 |
as a 27
year old, becoming the youngest town clerk in the
country. He succeeded Joe McNulty who left to take
up the same post in Bundoran, a position he still
holds today.
"The Buncrana job was advertised in the paper along
with Bundoran and Templemore, Co. Tipperary. In
those days, town clerks moved around a lot more than
they do today.
"I got the job after serving six years as a clerical
officer, class A, with Dublin Corporation," he
explained.
Now, just over 30 years later, he says it's time to
move on. Citing health grounds for his decision to
take early retirement, he admits he's glad to be rid
of his hectic desk job. |
"I'm relieved to be honest. It's such a different
job nowadays to what it was in the early years. It's
pretty arduous at times."
He said there had been some challenging times over
the years, particularly the seemingly never-ending
recession of the 1980s and the closure of Fruit of
the Loom. He was happy as the country's fortunes
changed with the |
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Celtic Tiger and firmly believes
"the best has yet to come" for his adopted town.
A single man, he says he has no plans to leave his
large period red-bricked home at The Crescent,
Buncrana, although his new-found free time will
allow him to visit his family more.
"Both my parents are deceased but I have a brother
in the European Commission in Brussels, I've a
sister in Dublin and a sister in Australia, so
hopefully I'll be able to see more of them." He also
hopes to indulge his other great passion - reading
non-fiction books. "I would be a pretty avid reader.
There is so much non-fiction to get through, I would
never have the time to read fiction."
Buncrana's councillors paid tribute to the 57-year
old at Wednesday night's monthly meeting while the
seaside town is now on the look-out for his
replacement. The top position is to be advertised
within the next two weeks. Meanwhile, Paul Doyle
paid warm tribute to his former colleagues, the many
elected representatives he worked with over the
years, and the people of Buncrana. "They're very
good people in Buncrana and I did my best to serve
them to the best of my ability." |
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