A New Life: Eric Dempsey gave up a safe pensionable job to indulge his passion for our feathered birds. Sylvia Thompson writes
Wildlife expert, naturalist, ornithologist or birdwatcher? It isn't easy to find a job title for Eric Dempsey (42), the former product manager with Eircom who gave up the day job two years ago to follow his lifelong interest in birds.
"I'm a birder," he says, defying my attempts to categorise him. A 'birder' it seems is someone who has a professional interest in and knowledge of birds as distinct from a birdwatcher who simply enjoys watching birds in his/her back garden or on trips into the wild.
A chatty, relaxed individual, Dempsey is clearly content with his move from the nine to five (or 8.30 a.m. to 6.30 p.m., as it almost always was) pensionable job to a freelance career leading birdwatching expeditions, writing guidebooks to Irish birds and generally educating anyone who is interested in the life and times of our feathered friends. And, although he acknowledges that his looming 40th birthday spurred him into finally making the change, he emphasises that there was no personal crisis point.
"I left school after my Intermediate Certificate [now the Junior Certificate\], did the civil service exam and became a junior postman in the GPO.
"It was supposed to be a summer job but I was still there 23 years later," Dempsey says with a laugh. Not as a postman though.
In fact, Eric Dempsey moved up through the various clerical grades and stayed on with Telecom (subsequently Eircom) after the
P & T split into An Post and Telecom.
"I had moved into middle management with a good career path and a responsible job when I realised that I had never wanted to be a product manager with a telecommunications company," he explains.
However, his working life didn't deter him from pursuing an interest in wildlife which he had since childhood: his parents have been lifelong environmental campaigners and, only last month, they were among the members of Compassion in World Farming protesting against the exportation of live animals.
Dempsey himself bought his first telescope at the age of 16 and thereafter became actively involved in Birdwatch Ireland.
In the early 1990s, he began to lay down the foundations for his future work plans.
He set up the Birds of Ireland news service (a premium line number which people can call to get the latest sightings of different birds). And for four years, he also edited the quarterly newsletter, Irish Birding News.
Then came the bigger breaks: He wrote and Michael O'Clery illustrated The Complete Guide to Irish Birds (Gill & Macmillan) followed by The Pocket Guide to Common Birds of Ireland (Gill & Macmillan).
The success of these two publications established Dempsey as an expert on Irish birds and he went on to give bird-watching tours to visitors from the United States and other European countries. (He is now a Bord Fáilte approved bird guide.)
When Eircom began to reduce its staff in 2001, Eric Dempsey applied for the voluntary severance package.
He was refused. But, six months later, his request was granted and in February 2002 he left to become a freelance birder.
"I found myself with a good \ cushion on leaving Eircom and I have given myself an eight-year plan to build up my business and not to be inflexible," he says.
A supportive partner, no children and a low mortgage were other factors which helped him have a stress-free transition from employee to self-employment.
Unsurprisingly, Eric Dempsey speaks passionately about birds: For instance, did you know that Ireland is one of the last strongholds in western Europe for the corncrake or that the presence of up to 100,000 wild geese, ducks and shorebirds on Bull Island from October to April makes Dublin the only capital city in Europe with such large numbers of wintering birds in its suburb or that visitors from the United States come to see the breeding seabirds on Howth Head?
"It's such an incredible sight, sound and smell," says Dempsey.
He is disappointed at the Government's breach of EU regulations on protecting certain areas of scientific interest.
He also believes that the Irish Tourist Board hasn't yet realised the huge potential of eco-tourism. And, he thinks many Irish adults take for granted the wonderful world of wildlife we have right on our doorstep.
"Children today are far more in tune with the environment than we were and I enjoy talking to them. It's amazing telling them about the mind-blowing and epic journeys being made all the time by birds such as swallows and cuckoos, telling them how at three months old these birds fly to South Africa and return to the exact same barn the following spring.
"If that doesn't inspire awe, what does?"
Dempsey's current projects include regular contributions to Derek Mooney's RTÉ Radio show, Mooney Goes Wild, research work for a documentary on the migration of Irish swallows (also with Derek Mooney), a children's book and talks on Irish birds to schools and other interest groups.
"The last two years have flown by," he says, without a hint of irony.
See also www.birdsireland.com
For information on sightings of birds in Ireland, tel: 1550 111700 (calls are charged at 74 cents per minute).