Eamon's Retirement

(Click the thumbnails for the big picture.)

June 28th was the date for my dad's surprise retirement party. That is to say that the party was a surprise, not the retirement. Keeping the whole thing a secret from him involved a serious operation in lies, deception and cover-up. Especially when mum forgot that her mobile was diverted to the house answering machine and people started leaving messages about the party. There were certainly a few tense moments.

Anyway, lured by the promise of a meal out with Sean Cahill & his wife, they arrived at The Dropping Well. The surprise was kept even when he met Johnny Martin the the car-park who quickly claimed that he was there for a meal with some representatives of the Special Olympics. Quick thinking.

Even with the aid of numerous pints beforehand, I was still very nervous when making my speech. I think it went down ok...hopefully.

Mr. Sean Cahill recording everything for posterity. I'd be curious to see the video actually to find out how bad my speech really was.

As part of the presentation we gave him Guinness Welly boots (artwork by Miranda), a t-shirt & new business cards (see below), magazines on gardening and various other bits and bobs.

T-Shirt	Business Card

Above you can see some of Eamon's "I'm giving a speech" poses. After the work I'd put into my speech, I was all the more impressed when dad gave his off-the-cuff speech which put to shame anything I had said. A true professional.

Raise your glasses!!