My second job was with Shield Insurance, from 1981 to 1989.
When I joined the IT Department (which was called the “Systems Department” in those days) the staff from both Life and General Insurance were located together, in Pembroke Road in Ballsbridge.
From the outset I worked on the Life side of the business, and when the Life company moved out to Blackrock (which the General Manager told us at the time was the “Ballsbridge of the future”) I went with them.
Initially we had an IBM System/34 but we moved over to Wang systems subsequently. Over time I began to focus more and more on PCs, as these became an increasingly important part of our business.
Shield was acquired by Eagle Star after I left and subsequently became Zurich which it is today.
It is hard to find even the logo of Shield or Shield Life on the internet today. So here are a few items which I have photographed for posterity.
The first is a header from a letter which I received in 1989. Note that there was a fax and telex number, and that the phone number had only six digits!
The second is a footer form a payslip I received in the same year. Notice the sprocket holes on the left which were required to feed the paper through the printer.
The third is a golf accessory I got at some stage while I was working with the company (golf was a big deal both within the company and with the broker community).
I had a great time in Shield and I made a lot of great friends who are still friends today.
I intend to do some posts about the projects I worked on in Shield over the coming days and weeks.