'The Major' was a 'newspaper publisher to his fingertips'

MAJ THOMAS Bleakley McDowell was “an immensely charming man” and “a newspaper publisher to his fingertips”, the managing director of The Irish Times Ltd Maeve Donovan, said last night.

Ms Donovan said the former chairman and chief executive loved reading about newspapers, visiting them and meeting other newspaper people.

“His bookshelves were filled with books on the subject and he travelled to the Wan world congress to meet old friends,” she recalled. Although he retired in 2001 after 40 years at the head of the company, he always retained this interest.

“He kept well abreast of the ongoing changes in the industry that he loved. In recent years his occasional telephone calls were always to inquire about events in publishing in Ireland and abroad.”

Ms Donovan said that when she joined The Irish Timesin 1977, "the Major" was an all-pervasive yet mysterious presence in the office on D'Olier Street in Dublin.

“His office, where he was protected by a loyal praetorian guard, lay in what was known colloquially as ‘the bunker’. I was intrigued and intimidated in equal measure,” she said.

“In later years when I came to know him personally, I found him to be an immensely charming man with a lively curiosity and a wicked sense of humour. Our meetings would rarely pass without inquiry about my family or home life. He himself was very much a family man and would speak especially fondly of his grandchildren.”

Former editor of The Irish TimesConor Brady said he was saddened to hear of the death of his former chairman and colleague and extended his deep condolences to Maj McDowell's family.

" The Irish Timesexists today as a truly independent news medium, bound to the interests of Ireland and controlled within Ireland, because of his vision and commitment," Mr Brady said.

He said that Maj McDowell was imbued with all the instincts of a true newspaperman, always placing the newspaper’s editorial mission ahead of any other consideration.

"He had two interests in life, his family and The Irish Times. He was immensely proud of both. He enjoyed the great blessings of an extended and loving family and of a long and distinguished career," he added.

“He was utterly individualistic. He had an extraordinarily original mind and never failed to surprise. Even in a business that throws up more than its fair share of originals, Tom McDowell was unique. Irish newspapers will hardly see his like again.”

Editor of The Irish TimesGeraldine Kennedy said the newspaper would not be what it was today without Maj McDowell's leadership of the company for almost 40 years.

"Together with the editors who worked with him, he made a significant contribution to the development of The Irish Timesinto the mainstream of Irish life as the independent Irish national newspaper," Ms Kennedy added.

Through the creation of The Irish Times Trust and its Memorandum and Articles of Association, he demonstrated "considerable foresight" in recognising the need to preserve the editorial independence of The Irish Times. "That is his legacy to this generation of journalists," she added.

"He visited the new Irish Timesbuilding on Tara Street last year for the unveiling of a portrait of him by Andrew Festing. It gave him immense pleasure to see The Irish Timescelebrate its 150th anniversary on March 29th this year," she said.

“After his retirement, he was an avid and constructively critical reader of this newspaper right up to his unexpected death in Northern Ireland yesterday.”