Armoy centenarian Margaret a top tenant!

As a social landlord to around 85,000 properties, the Housing Executive has countless happy tenants who have lived in its homes for many years, but recently they celebrated with a special lady who marked 66 years as a social housing tenant.
By The Newsroom
Published 31st Jan 2020, 11:22 BST
Housing Executive Maintenance Manager Frankie McBride and local Housing Manager Noeleen Connolly with Mrs Gillan when she celebrated her 100 th birthdayHousing Executive Maintenance Manager Frankie McBride and local Housing Manager Noeleen Connolly with Mrs Gillan when she celebrated her 100 th birthday
Housing Executive Maintenance Manager Frankie McBride and local Housing Manager Noeleen Connolly with Mrs Gillan when she celebrated her 100 th birthday

Margaret Gillan has lived in Armoy since the 1950s and still lives quite independently in her home.

As well as celebrating her special 100th birthday with her last month, NIHE also wanted to congratulate her as one of the Housing Executive’s longest tenancies on record.

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Margaret grew up in Donegal and worked as a housekeeper in Derry/Londonderry before starting work in Loughguile, where she met her husband and settled in Armoy.

Margaret’s daughter, Rita, said: “Mum is an inspiration to us all. I am one of 10 children, we all grew up in this house and enjoyed living in this rural village in Armoy.”

Housing Executive Maintenance Manager Frankie McBride and local Housing Manager Noeleen Connolly called with Margaret to congratulate her on her long tenancy and check out how she was managing her stair-lift, which the Housing Executive recently installed.

Margaret said: “I’m still getting used to the stair-lift, it is helpful.”

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Frankie said: “It’s been a pleasure getting to know this lovely lady and her family over the years. She’s been an excellent tenant and we’re delighted that we could accommodate Mrs Gillan with a stair-lift in her home to help with mobility. Housing Executive is very proud to have built and maintained thousands of homes for our tenants throughout the decades.”

Margaret, when asked what her secret to long life was, she said: “Working hard and keeping myself to myself.”