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This Limerick Life - Donie Daffy
Born, bred and reared in Croom, Donie Daffy says there is no finer place in the world. He and his family are woven into the fabric of the place themselves through their long-running businesses of car sales and undertaking
We have been in business here since 1929 with the garage and the undertaking. My father came from Granagh and he bought this place in 1929 and there is a very proud tradition in the family with the undertaking and the cars.
I was one of the first to put a funeral home in the county. That was one of things that really took off at the time and that's going back nearly 30 years. The funeral home in Kilmallock was originally owned by Quishes and we bought that business five or six years ago and a son of mine, Michael, owns that and he is doing very well there as well.
Car sales came to a halt in February and March of last year. Only cheaper cars are selling, for the reason that an awful lot of the modern cars that people bought they couldn't afford them and they had to give them back so them people are actually buying 01s and 02s to keep them on the road.
Our business is a local business. We don't have the business coming through Croom that we used to have, due to the bypass. As well as being a local business it is a return business because old customers will always come back if you treat them right. I have had an awful lot of repeat business down through the years.
I'm at it since I was ten and I'm looking at coffins all my life. The one thing about funeral undertaking is that you are on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Christmas Day is the same as any other day – you could just get a call and you have to be prepared to go.
You put the same length of time into organising each funeral. From the time you get a call you pick up the remains, bring them to the funeral home for preparation and embalming. You call the local parish priest and you arrange your times. You sort out your gravediggers for whichever graveyard you are going to. You look after the local radio and the newspaper advertising and when the family comes to select whatever coffin they want, you do a price structure on the funeral. A funeral is as dear as what the customer will want. If somebody wants a cheap funeral they can buy a cheap coffin.
The only thing that went wrong in this country was the politicians and the bankers. Politicians and bankers destroyed this country. I don't have much time for NAMA and in my view you are probably going to see the three main banks being nationalised. We are not going to get out of this recession this year – it will take a couple of years.
Cheltenham is a week that Irish punters look forward to every year. It's a marvellous week. I spent 15 years in a row at Cheltenham but I haven't been there for 15 years and I am looking forward to taking a few days off (next week) and to watching it on television. I was disappointed to hear that the local horse in Ballingarry, Charles Byrne's Horse (Solwhit) is in doubt for the Champion Hurdle. I would sincerely hope that Philip Fentan's Horse (Dunguib) will win the first race on Tuesday and I reckon that Ireland could have about eight to ten winners.
My interest in sports would be mostly GAA. I am very disappointed with the way the Limerick hurling saga is continuing and I would love to see that coming to a close. It will put Limerick hurling back around five years – that is what it will do and I would like to see it resolved.
There is no better place than Croom. When you are born and bred and went to school in Croom and all your pals and friends are in Croom I wouldn't swap Croom for anywhere else.
Parking is a problem in Croom. As part of the proposed construction at the town park there is provision going in there for a car park which would be of marvellous help to Croom if passed by Limerick County Council. At the moment what you have is people who are working in shops and businesses are parking their cars on the street all day, whereas if there was a car parking facility they could use that and leave the spaces for people who want to shop in Croom – which I think would be a major help for the village
Sue Ann McManus moving into Islanmore Stud is a great boost for the area. It is a big regret that the Tarry family left in the mid 1990s but it is great that JP (McManus] has bought it and retained the staff who were working there.
Interview: David Hurley
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Weather for Limerick
Wednesday 08 February 2012
Today
Light rain
Temperature: 7 C to 9 C
Wind Speed: 22 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Light rain
Temperature: 8 C to 11 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: South
