The late Jim Butler It was with great sadness that the people of Longford heard of the sad passing of Jim Butler. A well-respected businessman in the town for over thirty-five years, Jim was actually born in Jamestown in Leitrim in 1922. However, as a boarder in St Mel's College, Longford swiftly became an integral part of Jim's landscape and, as well as excelling as a student there, Jim also displayed great prowess on the football field, going on to win three Leinster Senior Championship medals with the renowned boarding school. Indeed, Gaelic games would continue to play a huge part in Jim's life; as an adult he played for four separate "counties" over the course of his sporting career, winning two Senior Connacht titles with Galway and Roscommon, several Sigerson Cup medal. As well as a handful of accolades with Leitrim and London. After qualifying as an engineer in 'University College Galway, Jim moved to London in 1947 where he was one of the first civil engineers involved in the building of Heatrow Airport. In 1952, Jim married his wife, Ann and the couple moved to Scotland where Jim worked in open cast mining. They returned to London in 1959 where once more, Jim became involved with a high profile project: the building of the Dartford Tunnell underneath the River Thames. Following a number of years in England, Jim decided to strike out on his own as a civil engineering contractor and returned to Ireland in 1970 where he set up his own company, Abbey Construction Ltd, in Longford along with his nephew, Joe Early. The company won its first major contract from Longford Co Council in 1971 for the Lough Gowna Regional Water Supply and continued to carry out numerous major water supply and sewerage schemes in the Miidlands and North West including the Ballymahon Regional Water Supply and the Longford Central Water Supply. In 1978, Jim's son, Seamus joined the company and during the mid-eighties the company was re-structured and re-named Butler Manufacturing Services Ltd. However, Jim remained as Chairman of the company and still played a very active role in the running of Butler Manufacturing right up until his death. Apart from his business, another major passion in Jim's life was golf. A former Club Captain and Club President of Longford Golf Club, Jim was an accomplished middle handicap golfer and a keen competitor in inter-club events. As well as this, Jim also took a huge interest in the development of the Club itself and was a huge physical and administrative help in the 1970s and 1980s when the Club was transformed from a nine to 18 hole course. Described by his dear friend, Lal Donlon (RIP) as "the nice Mr Butler", Jim was very well regarded among those who knew him for his determination, honesty and fearlessness. His forthright manner belied an extremely kind and generous man and his softer side certainly came through with is grandchildren of whom he was extremely proud. Jim is deeply regretted by his living wife Ann, his daughter Caroline, his son Seamus as well as his beloved grandchildren. May he rest in peace. Courtesy of the Longford Leader 05 January 2007 Tweet

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