"I have worked for over 30 years in Fas and I want to retire in Dublin, yet I can't get access to the promotions necessary to boost my pension, " says Pat, alluding to the dispute in Fas where management has stipulated that anybody applying for promotion must first agree to move to the midlands town.

Pat's wife, who works in the private sector, is also a Dubliner born and bred.

"I would be divorced if I had to move to the midlands, " he says.

Two of his sons have moved out of their Ballinteer home but a third is doing an apprenticeship and is still living with them. "If we moved out, he wouldn't be able to afford to rent a flat."

"I have nothing against Birr but I started work at 16 years of age and in my early sixties now I don't want to have to contemplate such a move, " he says.

Indeed, Pat is uncertain that the arrival of up to 400 Fas workers would be of benefit to the former garrison town. "Any jobs in Birr should be offered to the people of Birr, " he said adding that most people moving down will live in the hinterland, not the town itself.

A long time member of Siptu, Pat is quietly confident that the dispute in Fas over decentralisation will be successfully resolved sooner rather than later. But regardless, he is still not going to Birr.