Brian Looney remembered as ‘great newspaperman’ who liked to break rules

Former Irish Examiner editor Brian Looney was remembered on Thursday for his engaging company and loyalty to friends. The 63-year-old, who lived in Cork City, and edited the paper from 1994 to 2001, died on Monday following a short illness.

His Requiem Mass was celebrated at the Church of The Most Precious Blood in Clogheen, Cork. His sister-in-law Mary said she first met Mr Looney when she was nine years old.

“Brian was throwing shapes,” she recalled. “The charisma that flourished over the years, I could see it even then. I always had fun with Brian.”

She recalled that, at a family wedding, he was the only one to attend in a white suit.

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“He liked to break all the rules and, as [his brother] Ivor has said, it’s because he broke those rules that he was so successful.”

Former business editor of the Irish Examiner, Conor Keane, who had also worked with Mr Looney at The Kerryman, said: “There was never a dull moment. And it’s been the same for his many friends and family. ‘Boring’ was a word that never came to mind but others such as ‘gregarious’, ‘witty’, and even ‘infuriating’ too.

“Brian had many loves and he fought many battles – the demon drink was among those. Socially, he could be excellent company, brilliantly engaging, in song and story.”

To laughter from the mourners, Mr Keane asked how many of them knew Mr Looney had an All-Ireland medal for waterskiing, and stated that his “Eurovision repertoire was phenomenal”.

He also said that, for a man born in the late 1950s, his “personal journey in embracing his own sexuality was difficult”.

But, Mr Keane added, Mr Looney had been “true to himself and proud of who he was”. He said his “favourite life was media”, newspapers in particular, and “as it turns out, he was a great newspaper man”.

Mr Keane recalled that when Mr Looney edited The Kerryman after leaving his job as industrial correspondent with the Irish Independent at the age of 26, he proceeded to run it “as if it was the Washington Post”, and his editorship was “a roaring success”.

Fr Tomás Walsh, co-celebrant at the Requiem Mass, said Mr Looney’s brother Michael had told him about “Brian’s generous and compassionate nature” and “the fun they had as young boys”.

He reminded mourners of the various tributes to Mr Looney, including praise for “his giftedness as a journalist, his engaging company, his loyalty to friends”.

Mr Looney was appointed editor of The Kerryman newspaper group in 1988 before being appointed editor of the then Cork Examiner in 1994, aged 34. He led its transformation to The Examiner in 1998, and later, to the Irish Examiner.

He is survived by his brothers Ivor, Michael and Aquinas, and his sister Mary.