by Paul Bradley
Hi Ciaran, thanks for doing this interview. Could you tell us a bit about yourself, please?
Hi Paul, I appreciate you asking. I grew up in the shadow of Sliabh Liag in the village of Carrick. It was an idyllic place as a child allowing freedom to roam and play. We had no smartphones to distract us. We were straight out after school, jumpers as goalposts arguing over who’d be George Best.
I went to college in Letterkenny in 1980 where I met Margaret. She was from Carndonagh, 100 miles from Carrick.
I came from a building background, my grandfather JW built the hospital in Carn so it turned out our families knew each other. He also built a number of estates and schools around the county including Scoil Mhuire gan Smál where my daughters went to school, and the Old Tech in Ard O’Donnell where I spent most of my working life. Myself and Margaret married in 1983 and have five adult children.
I worked in the Motor Tax office in Lifford for two years and in the VEC/ETB for 38 where initially I managed the Payroll section and for the last 25 had been the IT manager.
In 1983 the VEC had just bought their first IBM mini-frame computer. I had no IT background but could see its huge potential. I delved into the large IBM manuals and learned on the job.
I had a big interest in photography. I used medium format film and had my own darkroom. With the introduction of digital there was an upsurge in interest so I founded LKFOTO for photographers in and around Letterkenny. We made use of the wonderful resources at the Regional Cultural Centre and brought in many wonderful guest photographers.
You recently retired. Has that been a hard readjustment, or just more time for your interests?
I had always planned to retire early. I’ve sadly seen friends who didn’t get to enjoy their retirement. I was adamant that I was still young enough to fulfill a few more dreams.
I have to admit, coming up to retirement in December of last year, I did suffer from anxiety. Although I was so looking forward to it, deep down I guess it’s not easy to walk away from the structured week of work.
I don’t miss the job but do miss the daily interactions with the many good friends and colleagues.
Our kids range from 29 to 42 so we are lucky to have been free to travel much more in later years. Favourites include Iceland, cruising the fjords of Norway and a wonderful few weeks in Zanzibar to visit our son Aaron.
Your interests are photography and writing, which seem to belong to a much different sphere than IT management. Was it an effort to stay in that role for as long as you did, knowing there were other things you would like to pursue?
I loved working in IT. I developed many systems which we used widely in our schools and centres. It may sound nerdy but to develop and deploy a complex system or report gave me as much joy as writing a poem. I believe creativity keeps us young and comes in all forms.
I’m proud to say that Donegal ETB were to the fore when it came to working remotely. We had all of our systems in the Cloud and had long been using Google Classroom so all staff were able to work remotely from day one.
Strangely, Lockdown helped me decide to retire early. I was unsure if I’d have enough focus to be at home alone and get on with writing but it brought a profound clarity to my thinking.
Do you see any overlap between your photography and your poetry? Do the same things inspire both, or are there subjects only one can do justice to? Or do you see them as quite separate interests?
I frame everything I see as a photograph, and my writing has been described as quite visual. I recently came runner-up at the Allingham Arts Festival with a piece of flash fiction. The judge Nuala O’Connor described my piece as ‘a visual feast, a watery immersion in the narrator’s water-bound dilemma. I loved its gorgeous salty sentences; the untethered, suffocating nature of the narrative; the attention to exact words; how those words stoke up the fever-dreamy atmosphere. The imagery is fresh and arresting; and the reader is hauled beautifully in. Just gorgeous.’ I can’t ask for better than that.
Be honest now – did some of your retirement golden handshake go towards a whole new camera kit? What kind of kit do you use?
Surprisingly not. I have a large collection of Fuji X cameras and lenses. I’ve recently begun to sell them off. I love attending gigs. In the last year we’ve seen Fontaines DC, Nick Cave and Kneecap. I like to ‘sneak’ a small camera into the gig so I carry a Sony RX100 which is truly a brilliant pocket camera.
You have written of using your retirement to sequester yourself occasionally to write. Is there a hint there that you have a bigger work in you – a book?
I have been writing for many years, both poetry and memoir. I had a lovely following on Facebook where friends have long encouraged me to write a book. It has always been the intention so now I try to spend a few hours every day writing, and hope to complete it over the next year.
Do you have any other plans for the future?
Being retired so far has been wonderful but as said I did miss the structure of the working day.
Donegal ETB has a very active retirement social group. I haven’t joined yet but do maintain their website which keeps me in touch with many former colleagues.
I’m still an early riser and start every day with 30 mins of yoga, no legs behind my head, simply long stretches which definitely help as I grow older. I’m lucky to live in a beautiful area overlooking Lough Swilly so most mornings I’m standing photographing the sunrise. I bake bread most days. Fresh pizza on Fridays. I’m sure my friends on FB are scunnered looking at all my sunrise and baking pics.
I recently volunteered with Donegal Hospice and I’m now developing and managing their new website. My mother, Marie, died in the hospice in 2003. She was so wonderfully cared for by the amazing staff there so it holds a special place in my heart. It’s good to be able to give something back.
Is there anything else you’d like to raise?
I loved my time at work but I was aware of others who struggled. When I left I sent a final email to all my colleagues simply reminding them to treat others with respect. We don’t always know what’s going on in people’s lives. We all have our own worries and concerns. I feel it’s important that the workspace should be somewhere we can park those worries at the door.
I’d encourage anyone out there thinking about retiring early to plan carefully. Know exactly what you are entitled to. Seek good financial advice. The best advice I got was that when you plan for retirement, others are also planning for your retirement.
We currently have six gorgeous grandchildren who I love dearly. I’m happy to be there when the need arises but being a full-time carer was not on the agenda – this is my time and I fully intend to enjoy it.
If anyone else would like to take part in this interview, to raise a profile or an issue, please contact Paul at Dnthirddegree@gmail.com
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