County’s principal environmental health officer signs off after 45 years

When John Hanily began his career in environmental health some of the tools of the job were a typewriter, a pocketful of coins and the nearest public phone box. Forty-five years later, as he retires from the HSE, the Frenchpark native leaves behind not just a long record of public service, but a lifetime of stories from a profession that has changed almost beyond recognition.

Friends, family and colleagues gathered recently at the Government Offices on Convent Road in Roscommon Town for a farewell coffee morning to mark the retirement of the county’s principal environmental health officer — a role Mr Hanily has held with dedication, good humour and a deep commitment to public health.

Over a career spanning nearly five decades, he served on numerous national boards, chairing the Occupational Therapists Registration Board and sitting on the Psychologists Registration Board. He also served terms on both the Dietitians and Social Workers Registration Boards, contributing to the wider development of health regulation in Ireland.

His path into the profession began at the College of Catering on Cathal Brugha Street, now part of TU Dublin at Grangegorman, where he qualified as an environmental health officer. Early postings brought him to Dublin, Galway and Wicklow — and it was in Wicklow that he met his wife Pauline. Together they have four children, Seán, Siobhán, Pádraig and Coman.

For the past 39 years, he has worked in his home county, carrying out the often unseen work that helps protect the health of the wider community — from food safety and hygiene standards to the investigation of infectious diseases.

Looking back, he remembers a very different working world. “When I started, the basic thing you had was one typewriter in a whole office building,” he said. “There was no technology. I was always on the road. I remember starting in Wicklow and you’d be up in the mountains and you had no communications other than a public phone box. You’d have to have coins with you if you needed to ring back to the office or to do anything.” Those early years, he recalled, were enjoyable ones, shaped by practical problem-solving and close cooperation with colleagues. Much of the work depended on trust, experience and getting on with the job, long before protocols and procedures became part of daily professional life.

As technology advanced, the role changed dramatically. Communication became easier, records became more streamlined and the systems around environmental health became more formalised, but the core purpose of the work remained the same: protecting people.

Among his career highlights, he points to his involvement in national groups and the opportunity to work alongside pioneers and leaders in environmental health — people whose example helped shape the standards and values of the profession.

At his farewell gathering, he paid tribute to the staff at the Government Offices in Roscommon, with particular thanks to senior environmental health officer Helen Gilchrist. He also extended his best wishes to Geoff Taylor, who will take up the role after him.

For Mr Hanily, environmental health remains a career worth recommending. That belief now carries a personal resonance: his son Coman graduated last year from TU Dublin as an environmental health officer and has taken up a position in West Cork, continuing the family connection with public service.

As he steps away from the office after 45 years, he does so with quiet satisfaction. He said he is “happy to be going out in good health, fulfilling my public service career in the knowledge that I’ve done a good job and left a good office behind me.” Retirement, for now, will begin gently.

He is looking forward to taking it easy for a while before returning to recreational music, travelling, and giving time to voluntary work — a new chapter after a lifetime spent serving the public.