When many of his contemporaries were taking the mailboat to England, Denis O’Brien got on his bicycle and cycled from Leitrim village to his new place of work – the General Plastics factory in Carrick-on-Shannon.
The factory was built in 1955, a time of few employment opportunities in Ireland, and O’Brien felt lucky to get a job there two years later.
He remembers the start date well, March 19th, 1957, “at 8 o’clock in the morning”. His first wage was £4/9 shillings, some of which he gave to his parents for bed and board.
The factory was hot when you were near the machines and cold while away from them, he says, and there was not much talk of health and safety in those days. “It was hard work,” he says, but the employees were grateful to have their jobs.
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The factory, which makes wires and cables, has gone through various iterations since starting off as General Plastics. It became Ward & Goldstone, Wessel Cables and DYR Electrical, the current name. O’Brien, now aged 86, has been a constant.
At its height in the 1970s, the business employed 100 people and a lot of summer workers. The factory closed its doors for good this week, with the loss of 10 jobs.
All of those working there have either found alternative employment or decided to retire. Their final day was marked with a cake showing the dates 1955-2025, the end of an era.
With 67 years, 10 months and 12 days of service, O’Brien must be one of the longest-serving, if not the longest-serving, employee in Ireland. He never worked anywhere else.
He could have retired as general manager when he turned 65 in 2003, but his employer asked him to stay on for another year. One year turned into another and one decade ran into the next.
“Every time I mentioned retirement they said, ‘you’re far too young to retire. Stay on for another while',” he says.
“Keep going as long as you are allowed to keep going. I have heard so many people of my vintage who retired and they are dead a few years later.”
O’Brien has a few things on the horizon, with his wife having already lined up a number of jobs for him.
“I have two radiators to take off in the house,” he said. “I have a little bit of land. I have to be at something.”
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