Amanda Mooney, director of Shannon River Basin District with Inland Fisheries Ireland, makes a presentation to Matt Nolan to mark his retirement as a fisheries officer, with Dermot Broughan, Fergus Lynch and John Devaney, IFI assistant inspectors.

Matt Nolan retires from Fisheries after 46 years

Published: Tue 10 Sep 2013, 4:22 PM

Mullingar-based Inland Fisheries officer, Matt Nolan officially retired last Friday week, after 46 years of service on the banks of the canals, rivers and lakes of the midlands.

Matt, a native of Ballygar, County Galway, was joined by family, colleagues and friends at the Bloomfield House Hotel, Mullingar to mark his retirement on Friday night.

Having come from a family with a huge interest in fishing, Matt initially worked in forestry, before landing a dream job with the Inland Fisheries Trust, becoming a fisheries officer working on waters in Cavan and Monaghan; the canals of Dublin and Kildare, and as far afield as Cork and other parts of Munster.

In the early 1970s he was posted to Mullingar, where he finished his career, starting off as a junior officer, before working his way up to having the responsibility of co-ordinating fisheries activities in the Upper Shannon region.

In that role, he worked closely with angling and environmental groups in the midlands. Matt settled in well, quickly becoming a part of the local community, involving himself in Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann, the junior Chamber of Commerce, St Dominick’s Community Council, and other sporting and cultural groups. He is also a Gaelgóir and a keen photographer.