From learning a skill in lockdown to turning it into an enjoyable living, Diarmuid is providing an essential, versatile service in welding
THE Covid-19 lockdown saw the emergence of different fads, hobbies and skills – some were flash in the pan, others are enjoying a long shelf life.
Diarmuid Keenan is one Sligo native whose means of getting through the lockdown in learning a new skill has now seen him turn it into a living.
Diarmuid is a welder-frabricator whose reputation has quickly grown since 2020, carrying out works and repairs all around Sligo.
Explaining further about how it all began, he said: “During the lockdown I bought a welder and a farmer came to me asking if I could ‘fix this' and ‘fix that' and it just kind of progressed from there because I found it was something I genuinely enjoyed and the lockdown gave me a good opportunity to learn more and by the time restrictions were easing it wasn't long before I was busy at it.”
Diarmuid has quickly adapted to the versatile demands of the job as he created a means to both work on site as well as work in his own workshop depending on the level of repairs needed on the steel being worked on.
“I do mostly private residential work. I have a mobile welder for call outs and there is a workshop here. We also do all kinds of repairs. The process there would be that we would try and repair something on site with the mobile welding but if it's too big of a job for that, we bring it back to the workshop.”
There is virtually no limit to what Diarmuid is prepared to work on – while gates and railings are arguably his most frequently requested repairs, his approach is that if it has steel in it, he will attempt to repair it.
“Everything that's built has some kind of steel in it. It could be a railing, a set of gates, the work can be applied to so many different things so we wouldn't be limited to the works we can carry out. We are mostly busy with gates, railings and repairs but there's really not much of a limit to the scope of what we can do as long as there's steel in it.”
While industry constantly changing and the jobs of tomorrow may be increasingly tech-driven, demand for certain types of traditional work is going nowhere anytime soon and the continued prevelance of steel in everyday items means welding is still an essential job.
“Even if the making of the new stuff will slow down or come a halt, there will always be something breaking, there will always be a need for repairs,” Diarmuid said.
“It could be something simple like a fire grate breaking or a gate hanging off.
“The jobs might be simple, but those things won't work without the broken parts so there will be a demand for the work there for some time to come.
“Any customer I have taken on has stuck with me which I like to think says a lot. What we built is built to last, we take no shortcuts and anyone we do the work for appreciates that.”
Diarmuid Keenan can be contacted by calling or texting 087-3315215.