It’s almost 42 years since my father died and I still miss him and I still love him

It’s hard to believe my father died almost 42 years ago.

I remember people saying, at the time, that he was so young.

I was 25 and I didn’t think 65 was that young at all.

Now I’m 66 and I do!

I know there are many people who claim to have had the best mother and father in the world.

Well, I’m one of them.

They were magic.

They loved us so much and every single thing they did, was for us.

My father was Chairman and CEO of the ESB, Chairman of the Blood Transfusion Board, Chairman of the Nuclear Energy Board. And he was supremely modest. He said he was a public servant with the emphasis on servant.

It was he who authorised the construction of the two chimneys in Ringsend. They’re now a landmark. And I claim ownership on behalf of our family!

I remember him saying that, when he was appointed to the top job in the ESB, his salary rose to £5,000 a year and friends asked him, he said, how it was possible to spend £100 in just one week.

Well, on the basis that he had forked out £525 for our house in Mount Merrion in 1939, it was a fair question.

I didn’t take my father’s advice much. I wish I had.

The two things I did on his advice were to sign up for a pension on day one in the Indo and to join VHI in my own right. I did both and those decisions have stood by me through rough times and particularly through bad health.

I still love my dad. I remember him like he was here yesterday and, I suppose, in many ways he was and he still is.

Among his other gifts to us was faith.

Yes, I know that’s unfashionable these days, but there you are. You note I called it a gift.

So happy Father’s Day daddy.

I still miss you.