I was saddened to read about the passing of Peter O’Reilly this week.
Most folk will, I expect, be conscious of his articles in fishing magazines, his books on fishing and fly tying in Ireland (to my shame I don't own one of them) and for his years of work and strong stance on fisheries conservation, or indeed for his role with the Wild Trout Trust as a Vice-President.
I will always be conscious of his activities in the world of fly casting instruction. Now this might seem like an odd choice for the purposes of remembrance but I discovered, whilst researching material for a possible presentation when I was qualifying as an SGAIC Instructor, just how much of an influence he had on professional qualification of fly casting instructors in Ireland.
Although he had been running his fly fishing school for a decade, Peter recognised the need to professional qualification and via Association of Professional Game Angling Instructors (APGAI) he became the very first qualified game angling instructor in the Republic of Ireland, gaining the single hand, double handed and fly tying qualifications - this takes considerable dedication and determination in more than equal measure. He went on to be one of the forming members of APGAI-Ireland which continues to develop fly casting instructors and fishing guides in the Republic of Ireland.
More recently he qualified with the Federation of Fly Fishers as a two handed casting instructor (THCI) having previously reached 'Masters' status in their single handed qualification - the first Irishman to do so, as far as I am aware.
He will be missed.
H
