It's a short walk to work in the morning with the rolling Atlantic on one side and the green fields of Donegal on the other.

"No one hates the thought of coming in to work," says Brian Gallagher, production manager at Magee Weaving in Donegal town. "Everybody is aiming towards the one goal." He joined the plant where approximately 50 people work in October 1997. He says he enjoys working there.

"You have to be prepared to put in long hours," he says. Beginning at 8 a.m. his day "officially" ends at 5.15 p.m. "This time of the year is an extremely busy period. We are governed by the fashion trade." The busiest times come in six-monthly cycles, he explains - peaking in October and then again in the spring.

"I do enjoy it. At the same time it can be a very trying job, at the same time. You are the first point of contact for so many people," he says listing the designer, the weaver, the sales team and the workers on the factory floor as some of those who come to him for direction. "You never have one day the same as the next. It's never mundane. It never runs totally smooth. There is always something that you would not have scheduled for - a customer that has to be scheduled in.

"Patience is extremely important," he adds. And it's crucial to be a problem-solver.

After completing his Leaving Cert in 1989 he wasn't inclined to go on to college, though most of his friends did.

At that stage, "the academic side didn't appeal to me," he says. He spent a couple of years working on at various jobs. he worked in a number of jobs. His first job after school was at the Killybegs fish factory, salting and cutting fish. This summer job continued on up to November. From there he went to the 26-acre Glenveagh National Park. Here he was cutting rhododendrons. Then he worked as a labourer on a building site.

He began to realise that "I was losing out" and decided to do a two-year BTEC diploma course in business and finance at Ballyfermot Senior College. "The first year was very difficult. Those courses are extremely tough," he says. In many ways, it was "tougher than the degree".

In spite of the hard work, the PLC course was "amazing", he recalls. It involved continuous assessment and a work-placement programme. As part of his work placement he spent two months working in the Magee factory, learning on the job, getting an insight into all the different departments. That summer he went back to work for three more months.

After the PLC, he went to Magee College in Derry to complete a three-year degree in business studies. He graduated with an honours grade in 1997, and was immediately offered a job at Magee Weaving. He was taken on as a trainee manager.

His current job involves scheduling the production of hand-weaving, the delivery of yarns, overseeing the goods in and goods out rotas and generally overseeing the smooth despatch and delivery of orders.

Yes, he agrees, you have to be organised and decisive. "That's basically the job - to organise the activities in the factory, it is essential to be organised yourself. Being a problem-solver is the key to the whole thing. It's up to you to find solutions when people come to you with problems."

School subjects which were important are maths and English. "Maths is a great help, we are dealing with ratios of one yard to another.

"And English, because you need to have communication skills. That is vital because you are working with a lot of individual people, in a lot of departments."