IT’S been an eventful and memorable 12 months for Crookstown-native Jim Leahy, as he completes his year as chair of Engineering Ireland, Cork region, next week.
He works as technical director, health and safety manager for RPS Consulting Ltd in Cork, having studied Civil Engineering in UCC.
Now living in Cork city, Jim said he thoroughly enjoyed his year as chair of the Cork region where he worked with a great committee to organise this year’s activities and showcase engineering excellence in the Cork area.
Speaking to The Southern Star, Jim (60) recalled the late 1980s following his graduation from UCC, where the option for many newly qualified engineers like himself were slim on the ground in Ireland.
‘There was nothing happening here but luckily there was a lot of work in the UK and they were screaming out for engineers. I ended up going to York for some strange reason while most of the people I knew went to London or ended up working on the Tunnel,’ said Jim.
‘In a time where there were no mobile phones it was a bit lonely and I would have preferred to have been with the others guys in London.’
Work also took him to Manchester and Leeds before he came back to work in Cork at the start of 1990, as he said things were starting to kick off there.
‘These first few years were the formative years of my career. I was onsite and meeting characters and learning how to work with other people effectively and to get projects completed.’
Having been laid off as a young engineer he was then forced to rethink his career, which led him to study for a diploma in Health, Safety and Welfare at Work.
As head of health and safety with RPS, Jim gets to see all the jobs but wouldn’t necessarily be onsite. One of the projects he was involved in was the reconstruction of the iconic Mizen Head footbridge in 2010.
‘That was a fantastic project to work on and my parents even came to visit the bridge. A plaque was put up at the end of the bridge to commemorate all the people who worked on that project.’
Encouraging young people to take up careers in engineering is also part of the work of Engineering Ireland.
‘Otherwise we won’t have the engineers that we need in 10 years’ time. It’s trying to find these people who are interested in engineering. Sometimes it depends on what the parents do workwise too.’
Jim was recently transferred to the Fellow of Engineers Ireland, which he said has been a high point of his career.
He has also been known to tread the boards of the Briery Gap in Macroom for many years playing the Dame in the annual pantomimes, something his colleagues knew nothing about.
‘I might have done that for 10 years as well as taking part in musicals and plays. I actually wore the Dame outfit into the office on one occasion for Christmas Jumper Day and the reaction was certainly mixed! It’s certainly doesn’t go with the profession of engineers.’
Jim will hand over the chair of office to Denise McCarthy at the AGM in Rochestown Park Hotel on May 6th.
