PDForra’s ‘father figure’ Noel ‘Sam’ Fealy set to retire

By Sean O’Riordan

Colleagues have praised a man who helped establish an association representing enlisted Defence Forces personnel and, in the process, outfoxed military intelligence.

Senior chief petty officer Noel ‘Sam’ Fealy is to retire from the Naval Service next month, after 43 years service.

In 1988/89, soldiers stationed on the Border “were getting terrible abuse”, he said. “Sometimes they got no food and, regularly, stale sandwiches. They were enduring poor conditions and decided they’d had enough.”

At this stage, a decision was taken to form PDForra, the Permanent Defence Forces Other Ranks Representative Association. “Five of us from the navy went to Dublin for a meeting, to form the association, and we were followed by the Special Investigation Branch (military intelligence). The military command thought we were being led by subversives,” he said.

Mr Fealy said members had to arrange secret meetings of the fledgeling organisation in Cobh and went to a local priest to book a meeting at the parish hall under the guise of the Albatross Sports & Social Club. PDForra went public a few days later.

“The following week, I was sent back up to the priest to ask him again if we could use the hall. He laughed and said ‘who are you saying you are now’.” Significantly, a military policeman who had been tailing them actually joined PDForra, ending up a branch secretary.

Mr Fealy is considered a’ father figure’ by young sailors and by all PDForra members. To mark his long service with the association, a special presentation was made to him at PDForra’s annual conference last week in Castlebar.

Current PDForra president Mark Keane said: “Noel brought his skill set into PDForra where his primary concern was only to better his colleagues’ lot. He took on the role of support officer the Naval Region (PDForra branch) alongside his work with Breaking the Silence (a suicide prevention organisation)."

Mr Keane said Mr Fealy had been a loyal and dedicated servant to the Irish Naval Service and also to the wider PDForra family: “Safe to say, we will never see his like again.”