The luck of the Irish

Between hard work, luck and opportunity, it’s safe to say Zak O hAilpin has done it all! From super star sportsman, to spray painter and now offshore Oil and Gas Fabric Maintenance Supervisor/ Inspector – Zak has truly diversified along his career journey.

“Sport has always been in my blood. Growing up in Cork, Ireland I spent my youth playing hurling and Gaelic Football at a senior level and loved the competition and commitment involved.

When I was 19, I was invited by the Carlton Football Club in Australia to do a pre-season prior to the 2004 draft. It was an amazing opportunity that I couldn’t turn up. So, with that, I packed my bags and moved from Ireland to pursue a professional football career in the AFL. This was something I’d wanted to do with my brother having been drafted the year before. I was keen to follow in his footsteps.

When I retired from AFL in 2008 I pursued a career in the Industrial Coating Industry which allowed me to work all over Australia. I wasn’t qualified at the time but a friend of mine’s brother owned a business in the industry and supported my growth post football. I ended up landing a job on the Inpex onshore LNG Plant in Darwin during its construction phase, an opportunity I grabbed with both hands!

Three years later when the construction phase came to an end, I knew it was time to pursue my offshore dream. This was when my fiancé and I decided to move to Perth as it was the heart and hub of all things oil and gas. Perth seemed like a great place to live if I was to get an opportunity to work offshore and stay in the industry. 

After a few small gigs, I was keen to settle into the offshore Fabric Maintenance Coatings and Installations team in a more long-term capacity. So, after progressing through recruitment with Monadelphous, I received the offer of my dream position, I was so excited and grateful for the opportunity. That was two years ago now, so while my role has changed and grown – the thing that maintains the same is how excited I am for my role and to work with the people I do.

My role as Oil and Gas Fabric Maintenance Supervisor/ Inspector gives me the ability to work with all different types of highly skilled people across the Oil and Gas industry and to learn from the best. I just love the team environment and the comradery that we build, especially while living and working away together is unlike any other.

Outside of work I eat, sleep and breath sports and in my spare time I love to play golf. I always dreamt that if I wasn’t doing what I am now, I’d want to be a professional golf caddy (well more likely in my dreams). Golf, every single day seems like a great job to me! However, there’s slim to zero chance of that happening, I like to think there’s still hope for my four-month-old baby boy one day though.

Locally in Perth, I’m involved in organising the Inpex golf day, which provides a great opportunity for the client and contractors to catch up away from work and in a different environment. At each golf day we change partners to encourage people to socialise with someone they don’t see on a day-to-day basis.

When I’m home, I love to have downtime with the family. On the weekend I wake up at the crack of dawn to play golf, then head home to walk my dog Shank (who is my first born – because he certainly gets treated as well as my son), then onto spending the day with my “second” son Isaiah and fiancé Natalie. Whether it’s heading to Bunnings to get supplies for Natalie’s next project or having our friends over for a pizza night – I’m a happy guy when I’m surrounded by my family and friends. I really do enjoy the quality time with my family which I get to have with the FIFO work like balance”. Said Zak.