'We're updating our fleet so I put an ad in the classifieds to try and sell one of our hearses. JP Ward and Sons is a family business and I'm a second-generation funeral director. We would need to update a hearse every five years with all the wear and tear. Generally we sell them to funeral directors down the country that would do a smaller volume of work, but I do know one guy who collects vintage cars and he has a vintage hearse. He brings it to shows and places like that. Our hearses are Mercedes vehicles that are then customised by a man in Dundalk.

"Some of the dramas you see on TV about funeral homes are light hearted. They're a kind of comic or black-humoured version of what we do. But in reality it's a serious business and we are very respectful and aware of the fact that we may be dealing with somebody's father or mother.

"Not everybody is cut out for this job. Personality is a big thing. You have to be able to show compassion towards people who are dealing with loss. Some people think there is a taboo attached to dealing with the dead and would be afraid to be involved in our business. When I tell people what I do for a living, the odd time they are a bit unnerved by it but then a lot of people find it interesting and they start to ask you questions. Death can be very interesting to some people.

"A typical day for us would start around 8am. The guys working with us head off to their funerals, which generally start around 10 or 11 o'clock, and from the church they would travel on to the graveyards or crematoriums. Then there's a gap and they go back out for removals in the evening around 5.30 or six o'clock. Sometimes the guys would have to collect people from hospitals or nursing homes in the afternoon. It's a long day.

"We deal with death on a daily basis but there are cases that really get to you. If we have to deal with a child, it can be awful and you do feel it. When somebody has been lucky enough to have had a long life, the family can appreciate that they had their mother or father for so many years, but if it's a younger member of the family then it can be quite distressing. But we just have to get on with it.

"The good side of this job is that you get satisfaction from the fact that you've done something for a family who are upset. Sometimes they'll come to us after the funeral and say how much a burden we've taken off them. The downside is that because this is a family business our service has to be run 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year. It can be difficult to get time away, but we do have to try and take a break or it would get too much.

"We get calls in the middle of the night and we will always take them. If someone is going to die, they can die at any time. They can't plan to die during office hours. People call us when someone passes away in the middle of the night because they don't know what to do. We have to be there to give some guidance and offer some help at such a distressing time.

"Wakes are becoming more popular again in Dublin. It's a return to old ways of mourning. People are beginning to bring their family members home for one more night and then we take them the next day to the funeral parlour.

"Contrary to popular opinion I wouldn't say we are recession proof. We also experience difficult times. But I suppose that there will always be a need for our service.

"Unfortunately it is something that people can't do without."