Brian, City Registrar at the Guildhall steps down today after four decades of service. And to celebrate with him on his last day - Brian received a blast from the past. Creggan lad Gerard Lavery who will soon hit the big 4-0, and was the first child Brian ever registered in Derry, turned up to shake his hand at his retirement do.

Well known in Derry and his home in Moville, Brian's upbeat about the prospect of retirement - saying he's entitled to a few years of being a "kept man."

And he has Matt Busby to thank for his decision to step down now: "Matt once said: 'At 59, you're too old to have the respect needed for managing a football team.' Well I'm 59 on my next birthday, and if it's good enough for Matt Busby, it's good enough for me."

Times have changed

Times have changed in the business of registering births, marriages and deaths, Brian remembers how in the early days of the job, registers were filled in using a wooden pen, nib and ink.

"I started off working in my father's shop, Barr's in Creggan," explained Brian. "But I decided to take the exam to join the Corporation in 1968. My first job was as a clerk in the health department, but I deputised for the registrar Sylvia McMullan when she went on holiday. After the reorganisation of local government in 1973, it was felt a full time deputy registrar was needed and I was appointed.

"It's been a fantastic experience for me. I estimate that during the last 40 years a conservative estimate of my work is that I've registered 160,000 events and been part of 2,500 wedding ceremonies.

"And I'm now marrying many people whose birth I registered, maybe that's what brought it home to me that it's time to move on."

As well as working full time, Brian also made time for romance and in 1974 tied the knot with his wife Carmel.

"Carmel is the woman who always backed me whatever I tried to achieve," said Brian. "We have six children."

In his 40 years service, Brian remembers tough times in Derry.

"During the 1970s and 1980s it was hard for people living and working in Derry," he said, "but we got through it. My theme has always been 'The Town I Loved so Well.' As a Marlborough Street lad I would walk through the Bogside, past the jail and down behind the Fountain to my office at Riverside. And I always say Derry was the place I learned about life and found myself a wife."

Throughout the years Brian has witnessed many memorable names being registered at the Guildhall.

"We did have a few Kylies back in the 1980s," he said. "But honestly Derry is not as bad as some other places where people give their children names like Superman! Granted we have had a few names of flowers and fruits for children, and days of the week are popular too.