Whether he is protecting people in riots in Ireland or leading the Murrurundi community as shire mayor, Nat Doonan has always strived for one thing – to do his bit to make each place better.
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Mr Doonan has been a member of the Upper Hunter Shire community since he and his family moved to Murrurundi back in 1978 and he has certainly given a lot of his time, energy and love to the community.
Why? Because he loves the place he lives, and he feels the need to give of himself to hopefully make Murrurundi and the Upper Hunter a better place to live in.
This goal in life has always been important to Mr Doonan, right back to when he was a police officer in Ireland.
Robert Nathaniel Doonan, known as Nat, was born in Northern Ireland in September 1939 – on the day Britain declared war on Germany.
He was the second youngest of seven sons and was raised and educated in Ireland.
After leaving school, the young man joined the Royal Ulster Constabulary, which at the time was the most highly trained police force in the world as they completed army training as well.
The young fellow started out in the uniform branch and completed his one year training with just one and half days off a month, before a two year probationary period.
Later he was promoted to the fingerprint branch, then the crime detective branch, and the special branch dealing with the troubles of the country.
Mr Doonan said becoming a police officer was something he had always wanted to do, but some of the experiences he witnessed people would need counselling for these days.
“There were some horrific scenes from post mortems to fatal road accidents, but we were properly trained and prepared for the confrontations of the job,” he said.
“It was a very interesting job.”
Mr Doonan was recognised for his good work with several commendations and a Bravery Award for his involvement in the 1963 riots at Belfast.
In 1968, when Mr Doonan was 27-years-old, his wife Jean and their eldest son who was five-months-old moved to Australia.
He had resigned from the police force with his leaving certificate marked as ‘exemplary conduct’ so he knew he would be able to re-join when they returned two years later, however many decades later they still call Australia home.
With an older brother already living here, the young couple decided to come over for two years for a look, however stayed for five years and had their second son.
Upon returning they found Northern Ireland was in turmoil and decided Australia was a far better prospect for young children.
Fortunately, Mr Doonan had completed a computer programming course when in the police force, so he picked up work relatively easily in the Australia Post mail centre at Redfern where he worked for the first five years.
He then bought a carpet cleaning business in Sydney which was very successful, and he later sold on to his younger brother who had also moved to Australia.
Having always preferred the country compared to the city, Mr Doonan started searching for a motel to purchase, looking at motels from Tarcutta in the south to Brunswick Heads in the north when the Valley View Motel in Murrurundi came on the market.
Mr Doonan said he had a look at the motel and it wasn’t in the best shape, but they really liked Murrurundi so made an offer and sat on it until it was accepted and they took over in 1978.
From then on they closed two of the 16 rooms at a time and renovated and re-decorated the motel, and trade picked up very quickly.
After six years, they decided to sell the motel, but still settled in Murrurundi on their 50 acres.
Mr Doonan then started employment at Liddell Power Station as a fire and safety officer managing the fire equipment.
He received a quick promotion to site foreman and then general station foreman at Liddell and Bayswater.
After 21 years at the stations, Mr Doonan retired in 2005.
Since establishing his family which later included two more sons, in Murrurundi, Mr Doonan became very involved in the community and has served on almost every committee possible.
His involvement with local government started in 1983 when he was elected to the Murrurundi Shire Council on which he was a councillor of for 25 years.
Mr Doonan successfully went to six elections and was mayor from 1994 to 2001, and he was also elected to the Upper Hunter Shire Council for a term when he was deputy mayor for two years.
Mr Doonan said he really enjoyed his positions on council although they were quite challenging.
He recalled the January 1996 flood which caused terrific damage to the town and sadly took one life as one of the most challenging.
“Following this flood it took a lot of time to develop a program to restore the assets in the town, and I dedicated long hours to this.
“I am very passionate about the town and we were well on the way to restoring the town when another similar flood struck, which made it quite a demanding time,” Mr Doonan said.
“I established a Mayoral Fund which raised more than $60,000 to help people most in need,” he said.
Mr Doonan said although he originally opposed the amalgamation of the councils, he knew in his heart that it had to happen as the Murrurundi Council wasn’t coping financially and was surviving on natural disaster funding for a long time.
“In the best interest of everyone the amalgamation was necessary, but it took the heart out of Murrurundi,” he said.
The Australian citizen is proud of his commitment to the community as he has served on every committee imaginable, being on 16 committees at one stage and attending an average of four meetings each week.
He was a member of the Rotary Club of Murrurundi for 35 years during which time he was president four times and held almost every other office position.
He has been involved in the Murrurundi Golf Club, Murrurundi Bowling Club, was the vice president of the King of the Ranges Stockman’s Challenge for two years, has been involved in the Murrurundi Sheep Dog Trials, and was the residence chairperson of Murravale for the past three years.
He is also a NSW Aged Care counsellor, and a member on various council committees.
Now a grandfather of five and with a keen passion for travelling, fishing, golf and gardening, Mr Doonan has recently stepped down from many positions so he and Jean can travel Australia and continue travelling back to the UK to visit family and friends.
Mr Doonan said he has enjoyed being involved in the community as he is motivated by the need to make improvements.
He has been recognised for his dedication throughout the years being awarded a Centenary of Federation Award for significant contribution to the Federation of Australia, the Mayoral Emeritus Award and a Local Government and Shires Association Award for his contribution to local government over a 25 year period.
“I feel proud as I have committed a lot of my spare time to the community,” Mr Doonan said.
“I get a lot of reward when I see that things are better than they were.
“I’d like to acknowledge the support of my wife Jean throughout the past 50 years, as she has always been there behind me 100 per cent all the way, and we have always worked as a team.”