Michael Duffy
WORDS of praise were plentiful in Court No 3 at the beginning of last week’s sitting of Castlebar District Court as the occasion marked the end of one of the longest-serving district court clerks in the country.
The work of Alo Filan, from Ballynew, Castlebar has become inextricably linked with the day-to-day running of the court services in the region and all the different institutes in regular contact with the court services were on hand to pay tribute to Mr Filan for his many years of dedicated service.
Judge Mary Devins led the tributes, saying that she had known Mr Filan for more years than she cared to remember.
“I have always admired and respected him, he has very much been a loyal colleague and a good friend. He has always been undeniably conscientious and he always sees the bigger picture. Alo could always see the wood and the trees,” said Judge Devins, who added that Mr Filan was a most impartial person who epitomised everything that is good.
Judge Devins went on to tell one anecdote from her time working with Mr Filan, which she said was the one and only time where he gave her a ‘bum steer’.
The judge had been in court in Westport on a beautiful September day and she enquired of Alo where was there a nice beach around where she could go for a walk, and possibly a swim. Alo recommended a certain beach and the judge arrived there thinking she had the place to herself.
However, as she was walking along the beach, she noticed that two people were walking towards her, and as they got closer, she could see that they had no clothes on. It was just then that her mobile rang, with Alo on the line saying: “Sorry Judge, there was just one thing I forgot to tell you about that beach...!”
Judge Devins concluded by welcoming two of Mr Filan’s daughters to court, Orla and Niamh, and by wishing Alo, and his wife Teresa, the very best during his years of retirement.
Mr Brendan McDonnell, the Court Services Regional Manager, described Mr Filan as ‘a remarkable man’. He briefly outlined Mr Filan’s career, which included many years in the Department of Agriculture in Longford and Roscommon before he moved to Castlebar in 1970 to work for the Land Commission in Davitt House.
Mr Michael Browne, on behalf of the solicitors of the region, said he could not believe that Mr Filan was retiring, as he still looked very fresh after such a long and distinguished career, which began as a Land Commission Inspector at the Department of Agriculture.
Mr Browne said there had been many changes to the court services system in the years Mr Filan had been employed there but he handled them all efficiently, particularly the volume of work associated with the change over to a computerised system.
Inspector Michael Murray, who spoke on behalf of the Gardaí, stated that there was always one watch word when you spoke of Mr Filan and that was ‘courtesy’. He said he had always been very helpful to Garda enquiries and he wished him the a long and enjoyable retirement.
Ms Miriam Tallon of the Probation Services said everyone was sorry to see such a gentleman retire after 43 long years of service. She added that he had become a good friend down through the years and that no request was ever too big for Mr Filan.
The last to extend words of congratulations to Mr Filan was Michael Duffy of The Mayo News, who spoke on behalf of the four newspapers of the county, The Mayo News, The Western People, The Connaught Telegraph and The Mayo Advertiser.
Mr Duffy said reporters could often be the bane of a court clerk’s life as they were constantly seeking access to information from court sittings but he said Mr Filan was always approachable and helpful in his dealing with the media. He wished Mr Filan and his family a very enjoyable retirement.
Mr Filan thanked everyone sincerely for their kind words. He said working now as a civil servant was indeed a very different job compared to when he started in the days when Seán Lemass was Taoiseach. He said he had always enjoyed his work but now he had served his time and there were new things on the horizon for him.
