OLIVER FLANAGAN, AGE 86, TULLAMORE

Oliver Flanagan worked all his life in Salt’s factory. He joined the company at the very beginning, in 1938, and experienced all the ups and downs of the business over the decades. Work was very irregular during the war years. Towards the end of the existence of Salt’s factory in Tullamore, he left to join Goodbodys in Clare for two years, and afterwards joined a branch of Salt’s in Mountmellick. He worked his way up from apprentice, to foreman, to chief production manager. Oliver showed me, with great pride, a photograph taken in 1962 of the management team, which included Michael Dowling, Martin Fox, Michael Hennessy, Joe Connolly, Jacky Lambe and a Mr Dewar, as well as Oliver himself, the only one of them surviving now.