Engineering success

Seamus Hunt made his senior competitive debut for Laois in the national football league Division 2 final of 1978 against Down. He was an O¹Moore County regular during the eighties and a member of the national league winning team of 1986. Nowadays, in his role as a Director of Noel Lawler Consulting Engineers, he¹s helping to build a better future for his club, Portarlington.

Equally renowned for his business acumen as for his days in the O’Moore County and Portarlington jerseys, Seamus Hunt is a director with Kilkenny based company, Noel Lawler Consulting Engineers.
The company was established in 1980 by, as you may have guessed by now, a Kilkenny man by the name of Noel Lawler, while Seamus joined in 1982.

One of the projects which the company is currently working on is the erection of a stand at the grounds of Seamus’ club, Portarlington.

The stand is being dedicated to the memory of the late Colm Maher, a former playing colleague of Seamus’. “I am proud to be associated with this project for that reason and feel that the stand represents a very fitting tribute to Colm’s memory and also Colm’s mother Breda, brothers Mark and Barry and sisters Joanna, Fiona and Martina who all tragically perished in that fire in June 1996.
“It’s a 1,000 seater stand and all ancilliary works associated with that such as an entrance, turnstiles etc. We have already levelled the area where the stand will be and we’re awaiting the tenders to come back.

“The design team and quantity surveyors on the project are MJ Turley & Associates who are based in Portarlington. The company is headed by Michael Turley who is also a former Portarlington player. His son, Peter, is a former county minor and current U-21.

“A Dublin based company by the name of Ovearup & Partners are the structural engineers. That company is headed by another Portarlington man, Donal Hutchinson. His late uncle Arthur was a great Portarlington player and official, he was a member of the last Laois team to win the Leinster SFC back in 1946.”

Other projects which Noel Lawler Consulting Engineers are currently associated with include the new Midland Prison in Portlaoise, the new Colaiste Iosagain in Portarlington, the Laois Shopping Centre in Portlaoise plus the renovation of Dunnes Stores branches throughout the country.

Noel Lawler is obviously doing something right boasting such impressive clients.
“I think the main secret of our success is that we’re a small, tight operation with good people. Plus we were one of the first companies in the construction industry to embrace the technological revolution, CAD, Autodesign etc.,” replied Seamus.

Meanwhile, returing to the development of Portlarlington’s facilities, Seamus, who’s a member of the club’s Development Committee, reveals that the club’s ambitious development plans don’t stop at the erection of the stand.

“The installation of floodlights is another very important feature of our development plan. Our pitch is in excellent condition the majority of the time and so it makes sense to have floodlights installed which will allow us train and play games during the winter time.

“The Portarlington club has always been a very progressive one. We built a Community Centre, which incorporates a full gym, basketball courts and dressingrooms, back in the late seventies and that was way ahead of its time. A lot of credit must go to the late Pat Butler for that.

“The present club chairman (Joe O’Dwyer), secretary (Michael Lawlor) and treasurer (Pat Donegan) and the rest of the committee are carrying on the great work which Pat did.”

Seamus’ club career with Portarlington spanned three decades, the 70s, 80s and 90s. At underage level, he collected a couple of underage championship medals but when quizzed on the highlight of his days in the club colours, Seamus required very little time to reply.

“Winning the senior championship in 1988 was undoubtedly the highlight. We beat Timahoe in the final and it was the first time the club had won it in 29 years. Unfortunately we didn’t win it again during my time after that and I hung up the boots in 1993. Although Portlarlington won again in 1995”

Two years earlier Seamus experienced the highlight of his intercounty career when he assisted the O’Moore County to win the 1986 National Football League title at the expense of Monaghan in the final.
“Winning the League was the highlight of playing with Laois but the low point arrived a couple of weeks later when we were beaten in the first round of the championship by Wicklow in Aughrim. There had been high expectations of us doing very well in the championship that year on account of the league success but, unfortunately, we flattered to deceive.”

The very same could be said of the current Laois senior team. Having annexed two All-Ireland minor titles on the trot, 1996 and ‘97, and reached the All-Ireland showdown for a third consecutive year in ‘98, the O’Moore County were expected to develop into one of the game’s major footballing powers at senior level.

But, sadly from a Laois perspective, that underage potential has failed to manifest itself in the senior team to date.

“Because of all the underage success there have been high expectations of the senior team these past couple of years,” remarks Seamus who also represented Laois at minor and U-21 levels in the seventies.

“In my view, it is very difficult to translate underage success into senior success. It’s a very big step up from minor to senior. If Laois could maintain some of the older guard to add a bit of power and strength to the key central position, I think that would go along way towards the development of the team.”

Development is one subject that Seamus Hunt knows all about.