Ivor Reilly celebrates milestone!
Ivor Reilly, currently installed as the Manager of the Water Wells Division of Causeway Geotech, is celebrating a major milestone birthday this week, and we would like to take this opportunity to mark the occasion by appreciating the long and illustrious career that this absolute gentleman has enjoyed in the ground investigation industry.
HISTORY
After leaving school, Ivor spent a few years working in a local bacteriological laboratory, before making a move into ground investigation in 1964, a sector which he has remained in ever since. Lesser people would have hung up the hard hat long ago, but Ivor has relished every day of the sixty years he has spent working in the drilling game, and admits that he’s still learning!
Throughout his career, Ivor has held many roles and spun many plates, working his way from laboratory technician to Company Director, with quite a few twists and turns in between, always marked by hard work and a hunger for learning.
Milestone Award
Speaking back in 2022 when he, quite deservedly, received the “Lifetime Achievement Award” from the British Drilling Association in recognition of his long and illustrious career, was the first time we heard Ivor almost admit that there were some things about drilling that he didn’t know…
“Drilling is an interesting career,” said Ivor. “I have found in my time no matter how much experience you have gained there are always new challenges ahead.”
Ballymoney’s Ivor’s Lifetime Achievement (northernirelandworld.com)
To this day, Ivor is the first into the office in the morning and one of the last to leave in the evenings. You’ll also likely find Ivor in the office even when he is supposed to be on holidays, much to his wife, Sadie’s, consternation!
Not only does Ivor never fail to entertain us all with all his fabulous stories from his days travelling the world with his show band, but he is also a dab hand on the guitar and has serenaded us with many a song over the year.
We are extremely lucky to have such a knowledgeable behemoth of the drilling world in our ranks. Moreover, his willingness to share his experiences and to offer advice to drillers faced with rather “difficult” boreholes has been invaluable.
Thank you Ivor, and here’s to many more birthdays into the future!