The
Newry Social Security Office Manager then, in the early 1960s was Billy
Sterritt from Warrenpoint.
He was
short, stout and grey haired and he was never seen without his pipe. Although he had a fearsome reputation I don't
ever remember him doing anything to earn it. He did not mix with the staff and I can not
recall him ever addressing a word to me in the four years that he was manager
while I was there.
The
Deputy Manager was George Brooke. George
was English and a boxing referee in his spare time. He was pleasant and hardworking and easy to
get on with.
The
Finance Officer was Charlie Brown - also from Warrenpoint. Charlie was an
amiable fellow. He had a tremendous head for figures and in the days before
calculators and computers he could total a page of 45 financial amounts in his
head - and this was in pounds, shillings and pence - quicker and more
accurately than the mechanical plus-adders that were available. He counted
whole amounts, not each column separately. He had a long sad face and sloping
shoulders and he shuffled rather than walked.
Jack
McConnon looked after the Newtownhamilton and Crossmaglen boxes. He was taxied out to the sub-offices twice a
week. Jack, as was the case with many of
the men in the office, was an ex-serviceman who had fought in the war and had
an irreverent attitude to authority. He
was fond of the bottle and often returned from his rounds the worst for wear. Several times we had to find a quiet room for
him to sleep it off in case the Manager should find him.
Legend
has it that on several occasions he arranged for the taxi driver to look after
the office while he had a few in Paddy Short's in Crossmaglen. Jack was a gentleman, affable and jocular. He had a habit of sniffing while twitching his
nose – an unpleasant habit that I found myself involuntarily copying for a
while.