SAOIRSE32

Irelandclick

Sean O’Hare is a taxi-driver in West Belfast. But if his past record is anything to go by he may be gearing up for a move

By Francesca Ryan

Many people go through different careers in a lifetime but none more so than local cab driver, Sean O’Hare.

The former New Barnsley man has dabbled in a staggering range of careers since he left school at the tender age of just nine and was keen to share his colourful life with the Andersonstown News.

“My first job was collecting rags with my uncle. We used to go around with a horse and cart and collect rags and other stuff to sell at St George’s Market on a Friday.

“I loved that job and did it for a few years until I became a roof tiler when I was about thirteen.”

Sean’s tiling job brought him to many destinations across the North throughout the dark days of the Troubles but when he landed a job as a labourer with a local contractor, he never looked back.

“We did a lot of work in North and West Belfast, building houses and extensions and I can honestly say they were the best days of my life. It was great craic and I loved the sense of having achieved something, building a house up from nothing.”

Running into an old New Barnsley neighbour in the early 1980s led Sean to love. Patricia, who he’d grown up beside, became his wife in 1985 and he laughs as he explains the way fate works, “I knew her all my life up in New Barnsley but we’d never gone out and then I ended up marrying her,” he smiles.

Living together in New Barnsley, Sean and Patricia had three children which meant the breadwinner had to take on a few more jobs.

“I started taxiing about that time and that got me involved in all sorts of jobs. I was driving wedding cars and limousines, driving a van for the Springfield Charitable Association and I used to run local kids to a horse-riding school.”

Having always harboured an interest in horses, stemming from his rag days with his uncle, Sean’s love of all things equestrian was renewed by running the bus to the local riding school. “My uncle always had horses so it has always been in my blood. I just wanted to do some kind of work that involved horses somehow.”

Following a stint as a window cleaner and two less than enjoyable years at Montupet, Sean threw in the towel and started his own business.

“It was called Sawdust and Shavings,” he explained. “I just used to go around work sites and joinery shops collecting sawdust and shavings and I would bag it and sell it on to people who had horses, namely farmers and the likes.”

With the money he earned, Sean was able to save for his dream business, “I worked really hard and I used all my contacts to build my own riding school, Westgate Riding Stables, in Dunmurry.

“I did the business course with LEDU and ran the riding school for about five years in the 1990s but had to leave it through illness.”

Although he gave up the riding school, Sean has recovered and things are much more calmer and steady these days.

As a taxi-man for Ace Taxis, Sean loves nothing more than a yarn with the punters and a nice lunch. “I just take it easy now. I’ve been with Ace for at least five years and I love it. I have a wee routine going and I go to CJ’s on the Glen Road for my lunch every day.

“I just love meeting people and having a good laugh and driving a taxi is the best way to do it, you end up in about 20 conversations every day.

“I love knowing everyone’s business so this trade suits me down to the ground.”

And having tried and tested almost every other trade going, Sean is most definitely speaking from experience.

QUICKFIRE ROUND

EARLIEST MEMORY? Getting up on a Friday to go to St George’s Market with my uncle
Happiest memory? Getting married to Patricia
Favourite film? The Quiet Man
Favourite book? I’m not a big reader
Favourite singer/song? Diana Ross, Ain’t No Mountain High Enough
Favourite food? Egg and chips
Favourite holiday spot? Bettystown on the other side of Dundalk
Person you most admire? My wife
Pet hate? Customers that don’t tip
Future Ambition? To get a karaoke bus that doubles as a taxi