17 July, 1956 - 1 Apr 2020. Significant supporter of the International Eucharistic Congress 2012. . BSc, FCA. Past director IDA, director ICON plc, Dublin Academic Medical Centre; Queens University Belfast Foundation. Served on the Board of the Royal Opera House. Assisted financially in funding Pope Benedict’s visit to UK in 2010. He was admitted as a member of the Order of St Gregory the Great on 13 February, 2013 and to the Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem also in 2013 and served as Chancellor of the Lieutenancy since January, 2018. In the latter role he contributed significantly to “the Living Stones”.
Born in North Belfast in 1956, evidence of his gifts did not delay in coming. Head Boy at St. Malachy’s College, where his already strong faith was further nourished, he went on to read economics at Queens University and served a two year stint as President of the Students Union (1978-80).
Coming to Dublin in 1980, he joined what was to become one of the “Big Four” international accountancy practices, KPMG. Within ten years he became a Partner, His entrepreneurial flair led him on to gain very considerable stature within the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors both in Ireland and internationally, with particular expertise in clinical research organisation. He put his expertise at the service of the national economy when appointed a director of the IDA in 2000, serving thru’ 2010.
Parallel with his financial acumen came more gifts, laced with generosity and commitment,-a gift of helping others, a gift of voluntarism and philanthropy. He was also a patron of the arts. He gave significant service to the Voluntary Hospital sector, in turn a director of St. Vincent’s Hospital and also the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital. Indeed during his summer holidays in Queen’s he worked as a volunteer in the Mater Hospital in Belfast. He became Chairperson of The Mater on 1 January 2015, making an enormous contribution in his single-minded pursuit of its mission and ethos. He was Chair of the Ireland East Group of hospitals.
Few will be aware of the extent of his generosity to his Church and to many beneficiaries of his personal help and kindness. He had a warm demeanour and personal charm. He had the ability to meet difficult challenges and decisions thru’ seeking consensus with his deeply irenic style. It is difficult to give adequate justice in summing up his multifaceted personal and private characteristics in a single statement.
