Tag Archives: retirement

This week it’s time for the latest in our series of age related articles – welcome to the world of the sixty-somethings! As you (potentially) approach the end of your working life, you are at a really important stage in your financial life. We hope to give you some food for thought to ensure you make the wisest financial decisions to see you through the next phase of your life. Plan carefully for the end of your working life It is really important that you are getting the best financial advice at this stage – there are so many significant decisions that need to be taken. You want to work with somebody who can confidently confirm to you the lifestyle that you can afford into the future, who can help you plan your financial life for the rest of your life.  Your adviser needs to have their finger on the pulse too in relation to all of the pension related …

AFTER 40 years working as an optician in the heart of Ennis, Louise Brogan is retiring. December 31 marked her last day of opening the premises just off O’Connell Street, but she is still doing a little bit of work before concluding. “We closed on the 31st, the last day of last year. Now we’re here for last minute things, people might need to collect prescriptions or whatever, so we’re here by arrangement for the next week or two,” she said on Tuesday. While the business was there since the 1930s, Louise arrived some 40 years ago. “Bernie Maurer and Dr Eileen Kennedy Maurer were here and I came to work for them and when they retired I kept going. It was a lovely business from the point of view of meeting people. “You might only meet them only once a year or once every two years, but you’d develop a friendship with them over the years. That was a …

A legend in Clare motoring circles is calling it a day this Friday. James Hehir, who started his career in the motor industry almost fifty years ago, will sell his last car this week at Sheils Motor Group, main Ford and Honda dealers on the Gort Road, Ennis. In a neat twist to the story, James’ career began at Sheils in 1971 where he started off straight away in car sales. At the time, the showroom and garage were located in the centre of Ennis, by the river near the CBS. There were only a few car showrooms in Ennis at the time with James recalling just Volkswagen and Morris. Ford, especially in the 1970s were seen almost as an Irish car company with their plant in Cork, the first to be built outside the US in 1917. That loyalty was repaid in car sales with Ford the undisputed number one. The big seller was the Escort, a revolutionary car …

ST Caimin’s Community School Shannon will have a new principal from the start of September, with Claire Knight taking over from John Cleary. Ms Knight has been at St Caimin’s since 1985, has taught PE and maths and served as deputy principal for the last five years, a role she enjoyed. “I learned an awful lot from the experience and I enjoyed working with the students, their parents and the teachers.” Of her new position, she says, “We’re in a very good place now to bring people forward with all the changes that are coming in education. The central theme for us is our mission statement that we have an environment that is structured and that students feel cared for and safe.” She has seen huge changes in the school over the course of her lengthy career. “We started off that first year with 112 students, then we brought them in one year at a time. It was initially built …