Millar 'built' himself a happy career

BUILDING was a labour of love for Ballymoney man Millar McIlreavy who retired in recent days.

For the 66-year-old Kilraughts Road man, originally from Killyrammer, even stayed on for an extra year as Maintenance Supervisor with the Northern Health Trust.

Millar admits: "Folk said I was mad but I liked to be on top of the job and could never settle by being off work too much. I liked to get back in to work. I loved building which was really a hobby for me. In fact I don't have any other 'real' hobbies."

And he said he couldn't recall being off sick a day.

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Millar will now spend his retirement in a house he built himself.

It was away back in 1958 at the age of 14 when Millar left school and began working with Robert Stirling as a contractor carrying out maintenance work for the Health Service.

And in 1976 Millar began working directly for the forerunners of the Northern Health Trust, carrying out maintenance projects on health service buildings including hospitals and health centres from Coleraine to Cushendall and from Ballycastle to Garvagh.

But the part of the job he liked best was when he got out and about in the community to build access ramps and hand rails and the like to help people get wheelchair access to their own homes.

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"You got a sense of fulfilment when you saw what the work meant for people and there was always plenty of chat and the odd cup of tea. I will miss that part of the job," he told the Times.

Millar, who lives with his wife Phyllis and son Robert, has two other sons living away from home - Darren and Gary - and he has a grand-daughter Courtney.

Millar can not only lay bricks, plaster and tile but he can do a bit of joinery although he leaves plumbing and the electrical side of things to other tradesmen.

He used his skills to build not only his present house close to Ballymoney Rugby Club but a previous home.

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And with plenty of time on his hands he says it is likely a trowel will never be too far away as he is still receiving phone calls from people "wanting wee jobs done".

A retirement function was held at the headquarters of the Northern Trust at the Route Complex in Ballymoney after Millar formally left the job at the end of March.

And Millar would like to say thanks to all the people he worked with, and for, over the years and wished to pay tribute to his bosses at the Northern Trust who he described as "brilliant".