New book packed with heaps of hope

EAST Clare resident, entrepreneur, author, farmer, fire fighter, there are many titles that could be used to describe Emelyn Heaps but three words, which form the title of his autobiography set it all out – Heaps of Trouble.
The book, recently published, is a humorously told account of a series of serious events that he had laid the foundations from which he rose. It documents the first chapter in his life, which saw him survive a gas explosion, live on the streets of Dublin and run a farm.
Emelyn, who has been living in Kiltannon, Tulla for the last number of years is also the managing director of Clare Resorts at the East Clare Golf Village in Bodyke and is spearheading a new seaplane operation in the West with other local investors.
He is new to writing, newer than most, but publishers have seen the potential in his life story with a possible three further publications due to hit the presses. His story is sure to generate much interest and offers food for thought to many who have found themselves down on their luck of late and looking for hope.
Emelyn begins the interview by listing off a number of the things he has tried, failed and succeeded at since he was a young lad growing up in Inchicore, Dublin. As he explains why he has taken a turn towards arts and writing, he begins, “I’m also dyslexic, by the way”.
“Writing, for me, has always been a problem. When I went to school, I was picked on as an idiot because I couldn’t read or write. It wasn’t until I went working for an American development company as a project manager that I was diagnosed as dyslexic.
Americans think those with dyslexia look at problems differently and that is why they put me in fire fighting. Basically, I would take over projects that were in trouble and try to sort them out. I’d go into meetings and they would introduce me, ‘this is Emelyn he’s our fire fighter, he’s dyslexic’. With the invention of Microsoft Word and the mouse, however, I started writing letters home to my parents,” Emelyn explained.
It was this piece of computer software that led Emelyn to develop his flare for writing and it was his life story that gave him the substance to fill the pages.
“I was blown up when I was 10 and I lost my sister. We were on holidays in Tramore and a gas cylinder blew up. I was in hospital for a year while they tried to put me back together. My sister, Catherine, died after 17 days. She was four. The parents became alcoholics, they couldn’t cope. I went out to live on the streets around the age of 15. I was a complete gurrier,” he admitted.
“The best lesson I ever learned is that if you don’t do it yourself, no one else is going to do it for you. That’s what I learned in Dublin. When I first realised this, I was the age of 10 in hospital. I was landed in St James’s. The parents went off the rails. I had two choices – get better or die – I chose to live,” he continued. 
Emelyn stresses that the book is light-humoured and is not about the tragedies that befell him – something he believes his mother used as a crutch throughout her life. Rather, the book carries the distinct message of optimism.
“It’s not about advocating misery, it is about hope. We have a lot of young people today coming out of school and thinking they haven’t any hope and there is hope. If you have the ability to dream, you can do anything and that’s all you need. That’s the message I want to get across. You can come out of any situation because you have two choices. You can stay there and talk about it, or you can do something about it and that’s the choice we all have. That’s what I believe,” he outlined.
Indeed, this pattern of optimism is to be continued in his next book Heaps of Opportunity, which is currently with the publisher.
“I class the first book as the foundation, it was the first 17 years and the moulding of the person I was to become. It turned me into the person I am, be it good or bad. Heaps of Opportunity is about me getting out of Dublin, breaking away from what I was doing and again, I had two choices. I could stay in Inchicore or get the hell out,” he outlined.
His next book brings with it further adventures, taking up where this city kid turns to the countryside, where at 19 he takes on the challenges of a 40-acre farm.
Heaps of Trouble is published by the Collins Press and is available in bookshops throughout the country.