Tom Obrien Switches Roles to Author

One of our oldest customers in Ireland retired from a career as an expert witness in the Irish law courts where he was a vocal supporter for some of our ground breaking personal LED safety lights. Tom has now in his retirement switched to a new career as an author with the publication of his debut literary work of fiction The Curlew’s Cry.

Based in his home county of Roscommon and London The Curlews Cry is a thriller with an ecological twist based on a disaster that reveals a long hidden secret.  Without giving too much away about the storyline for those that will enjoy a riveting read, its a book that draws upon the 30 odd years of experience Tom Obrien gained from the Irish law courts with events he actually investigated.

As a consequence it reads more like a real life telling of an event that actually happened rather than the work of fiction that it actually is and that’s partly why the well thumbed signed copy we have in our office has gone down a storm.In fact it’s disappeared off to the wife’s book club I just noticed.

It also combines that ever intriguing hidden family secret, of the kind that will resonate with many people. Based over an extended 30 year period when most would have thought any secrets would never have resurfaced with the passing of time and indeed people,  it leaves the reader reflecting on those times gone by. Any with an Irish lineage or from any newly developed country or region will see the massive change to the environment and lives of people in those communities. When I used to visit Ireland there seemed to be a lot that had to be kept hidden  from both the family and no doubt the church as times were very different although not really that distant.

The boglands of Roscommon and Mayo felt like desolate places to a youngster and threatened the prospect of days spent working (only 40 years ago that was our childhood family holiday – took weeks to clean our nails).

It is a cracking read for anyone who likes something believable, plus all profits are going to a children’s hospice charity The Sunflower Organisation as they try to raise 20 million euro to build a sorely needed children’s hospice in the West of Ireland.

Why Are we Mentioning Tom?

We met Tom nearly 20 years ago when he was researching a case where he believed road traffic lamps would have made a difference to an incident he was investigating that wasn’t adequately illuminated.  Turned out we had some shared connections in common, he had lots of good ideas and also wanted to promote road safety.  So many years of conversation later, we were delighted to be invited to his book launch in his home town of Roscommon and take an opportunity to wish him well on his new venture and support a highly worthy cause that was not for profit.

When our office junior took the call from Tom and that he had written a book she misheard the name and quoted Tom Obrien – Curly fries, turns out that there is a Tom Obrien in Ireland who has 74000 instagram followers and actually sells curly fries which threw us of a bit there when we were deciphering the post it note messages.

There’s also an Irish trad singer with an album The Curlew’s Cry which actually is a nice listen but if its a good Irish based thriller with that link to boglands of Ireland and the city of London (which will have synergy with a lot of second generation Irish living in the UK) then look for The Curlew’s Cry as available on his website The Curlew’s Cry | Tom OBrien

Even though we ourselves are a true micro business we have continued to support many charitable organisations over the years particularly where there have been events or activities that have run in the hours of darkness. It’s easy to forget just how many over the years, from small scout groups running fete or bonfire evenings, to the large  The Run in the Dark series of events where we always provided product at heavily discounted rates particularly the ever useful traffic wand that always finds a use in a busy carpark. The Air Ambulance service similarly received reduced cost green helicopter landing zone lights and Christmas Rotary clubs up and down the country might still be waving some of our lights off the back of floats or Santa Sleighs.

Actually when we look back and think about it and although we have never mentioned this before there’s a lot of volunteer organisations and  first responders and the like that we have supported over the years and it prompted this post to formalise it.  Keep that in mind as we would be pleased to help support genuine charitable events, volunteer organisations and the like where we can – remember though we are a micro business and have our limitations but drop us a line and we will see what we can do to support our wider community and tell our friend the author Tom Obrien that we are doing our little bit in the UK too.