Bantry's Con just keeps on trucking down under in Oz

A BANTRY man who features in RTÉ’s latest documentary series, Making it Down Under, has been described by his mother as a ‘great worker’ whom she ‘misses dreadfully’.

Con O’Sullivan certainly made an impression with viewers who tuned into the first episode to hear of his work with Leeds Cattle Transport, driving a seven-deck cattle transport truck, measuring 53.5m long, across the Australian outback. 

And he’s the first Irish man in the world to pull a seven-deck combination of a cattle road-train.

Con’s mother, Kathleen, told The Southern Star she was delighted to see him on television last week.

‘He’s a great worker and I saw him when he was home in March and I miss him dreadfully,’ said Kathleen.

Con moved to Australia in 2013 and he spent his first year working on an outback cattle station in Perth, but it was only when he saw those huge transport trucks that he realised he wanted a change.

‘I was there one day and I saw this road transport pull in and I said to my boss that I’d love to drive one of them some day. So I went about getting the licence, and the rest is history,’ he said.

Despite finding it tough living on the road and driving long journeys, Con still loves his job and spends many an evening washing down the truck.

‘Oh, it’s a dirty business alright,’ he said. 

‘You have to keep your trailers relatively clean to be presentable to the public. You could get a fine if they were too dirty. You have to know all the rules and the regulations too.’

One job Con does hate, though, is fuelling up the huge truck.

‘The vehicle takes around 1,800 litres of fuel, which costs almost ,000 Australian dollars – roughly €1,400 – to fill to the top and it just takes so long!’

Making it Down Under is on RTÉ 1 on Wednesdays at 8.30pm.