Legendary journalist signs off after 35 years

This week the Celt's veteran reporter SEAN MCMAHON retires after 35 years of dedicated service to this newspaper and the people of County Cavan. His niece ÁINE MCMAHON, who followed in his footsteps to become a journalist and also served her time with the CELT as a student reporter, penned this heartfelt tribute to her beloved uncle and mentor...

While uncle Sean was very much a journalist of the old school, he always maintained a keen interest in technology. He was one of the first people in the office to have a mobile phone – a brick-like device in the 90s, that came in its own case for reporting live from the field.

Sean helped foster my own love of newspapers and the media from a young age. Every Saturday he would give my sister Michelle and I a few punts to go into Gilbrides on the Diamond in Belturbet and get treats and the papers.

He would ask us to underline any reference to Cavan in the national newspapers in case he had missed it and wanted to follow up. We used to follow him up to the old Celt office on College Street in Cavan Town.

We have fond memories of the smell of print, the click clacking of the typewriters and the occasional riposte from sports editor Eamon Gaffney who took exception to three nosey kids coming into the office to disrupt him and Sean’s working day and stream of banter and slagging matches.

Not satisfied with merely following Sean into the office, we also begged to accompany him on his many assignments that took him to every corner of Cavan on his news beat. He would ensure we made ourselves useful by taking notes at agricultural shows and taking us for tea and treats when the jobs were done. On one memorable occasion, we got to meet the then Taoiseach Bertie Ahern in the Slieve Russell Hotel back in the noughties. Chit chat turned to the construction of the N3 bypass.

Grabbing me and my sister for a photo, he quipped: “They need to rev it up with that motorway” and get it underway.

The variety of the work and the access to so many interesting characters as well as pure nosiness led me to pursue a career in journalism. I was lucky to do work experience in the Celt in 2011 at a time when the news cycle featured the recession, Sean Gallagher’s presidential campaign and the General Election.

Commentary on Gaelic Games was another area where Sean excelled and he worked for the BBC, Northern Sound and also covered ten All Ireland Hurling and Football finals for Today FM Radio.

He often fondly remarked - ”I have been in every stadium in Ireland” - literally hundreds of times in places like Clones, Breffni, Thurles, Castlebar and Croke Park.

It is hard to imagine the Celt without Sean McMahon and for me to understate the impact and support he has had on my own career.

Here follows some of his best tips I have gleaned from him over the years.

Sean's words of work wisdom

Always be kind and decent to those you meet. You will catch more flies with honey than vinegar.

Always write people's names down and get them to say it back to you. Mis-spelling names offends and annoys people no end and can also land you in hot water with defamation lawyers if you screw up.

Bring a pencil as well as a pen when you're out on jobs. If it starts raining, your ink will run whereas a pencil will not.

Try to get your interviewee's contact details- you never know when you may need to contact them again or who they might become.

Always take a photo when out on a story - a picture tells a thousand words and staff photographers are nearing extinction in local newspapers.

If everyone on a big news story is crowding around one person or scene - try to go to another one. Often, a better story is taking place away from the crowd.

If you are offered food while out on a job or have an opportunity to take it - do. You may not get an opportunity to eat all day if it turns into a major news story.

Always carry extra equipment and spares. What can go wrong will go wrong when it comes to technology. Not only that, you will endear yourself to other colleagues who find themselves stuck with their phone on three per cent battery.

Sean in his own words

"That's only a cod" – not the tasty fish but used to refer to something less than satisfactory.

"I'm as well known as a begging Ass" - a reference to the fact that people knew him where ever her went in the Border counties.

"That's Mickey Mouse" - not the well loved Disney character but something that is inadequate or small.

"It's an ill wind that doesn't blow some good." Bad events or news can often bring un-intended consequences.

"A decent yarn" - Not a ball of wool but a particular good or juicy news story to be savoured over a cappuccino.

"Don't ask a question, you don't already know the answer to" - be well briefed.

"Knowledge is power" - have the inside track, before doing more challenging interviews, particularly in relation to crime and scams.

Tributes from Twitter