John Clarke with Henry Nolan
John Clarke pictured last week with his colleagues (back l/r) Barry Knowles, Ciaran Brennan, Pat Farrell, Noel Dillon, Pierre Lewis, Tom Bolger, Brian Griffin and Shane Stronge (front l/r) Jimmy Doyle, Kathryn Nolan, John Clarke, and Paul Shiel Photos: Paul Curran
John with Kathryn Nolan
John Clarke, Oliver Kehoe, Michael Keating, Sean Begley and Timmy O’Keeffe working in December 2010
AFFABLE John Clarke bid a fond farewell to Carlow County Council recently after three decades of making sure the streets of Carlow were spick and span!
Colleagues and longtime friends of Johnny got together to have a finish-up coffee morning with him to recall the many stories and goings on over his 30 years with the local authority.
Johnny started with the council back in 1994 as part of a FÁS scheme, even managing to save a colleague from being badly burned with petrol with his quick thinking.
Within a few months, Johnny was appointed as a general operative and in no time at all was selected to take up the post of driver. Johnny would drive and operate the ‘suction sweeper’ after previous driver-operators Noel Pender and Oliver Brennan retired.
A very likable, friendly and easy-going man with a great humorous attitude, Johnny was always one to lift the spirits among his colleagues and members of the public.
With a lifetime of work experience behind him, Johnny admits he’ll be “kept busy for the next few years at home, with jobs to be done … the list is good and long” with “nowhere to hide from it”.
Senior executive engineer Barry Knowles passed on the good wishes of council management, staff and also on a personal level.
