Francis Aidan Bernard Hennigan, the last London editor of the Irish Press, who has died aged 90, made history when he was conferred with an honorary OBE (Order of the British Empire) 10 years ago.
While he was not the first Irish person to be recognised by the UK for their contribution to Anglo-Irish relations, the doyen of Irish lobby correspondents made history because the presentation was the first event of its kind to take place on Irish soil, namely the Irish Embassy in London.
That happened because the planned presentation ceremony at the Northern Ireland Office was suddenly cancelled and then secretary of state Peter Hain, representing Queen Elizabeth, suggested holding it in the Irish Embassy, where Irish Ambassador Dáithí Ó Ceallaigh and his wife, Antoinette, hosted the presentation.
Among the many family, friends and fellow journalists there was the late Peter Barry, former minister for foreign affairs and Cork tea merchant, who also died recently.
Recalling Hennigan’s extensive coverage of Anglo-Irish negotiations over four decades, Barry paid tribute to Hennigan’s professionalism and impartiality, firstly as a young reporter and then during a 34-year stint as London editor of the now defunct Irish Press Newspapers plc which had its office on Fleet Street.
When it closed down with the loss of 600 jobs on May 25th , 1995, he became UK correspondent for the Irish Examiner and other media outlets.
Wonderful eccentricities
A man of wonderful eccentricities and great stories, Hennigan was a pleasure to work with, always fun and always kind. No young journalist could have asked for a more generous-spirited if somewhat unconventional boss.
Close colleagues remember him wearing paper collars and cuffs to receptions at the embassy. As he saw it, they served two purposes. If soiled after a day’s work, the collar could be changed in a jiffy, handy for a busy, single reporter. His usage of the cuffs was perhaps even more ingenious: if a story broke, he would rip them off for note-taking.
There was also the legendary story of covering the Shannon floods and his subsequent submission of expenses to formidable news editor Bill Redmond for “hire of car to cover floods, hire of tractor to retrieve car from floods”.
Born in Ballina, Co Mayo, he had the rare distinction of owning an island in a lake said to abound with fish. With the vanity of a confirmed bachelor who loved the company of women, his age was his best-kept secret. But as his many friends now know, he would have been 91 years old on November 13th.
His annual return to Ballina for a few days each summer brought laughter and fun to nieces and nephews. Allowed to stay up late, they were entertained by stories of growing up in Mayo nearly a century ago, laced with racy tales of his life and times in the “Street of Ink”.
Fine company
Under his instruction, a fast-learning nephew named after him became a poker shark at the age of eight. Recalling those heady days, his niece Bernadette, who cared fondly for him into his later years of debilitating illness, has memories of her uncle Aidan bringing “diplomats and dignitaries” to the family home in Mayo.
“My parents were delighted to have such fine company around their kitchen table and Mother’s apple tarts were always welcomed and devoured with gusto. They were great times, with Aidan in all his glory, and make for great memories,” she said.
Behind the genuine jollity of a man who loved parties was a very shrewd journalist who took a degree in economics, had read law as a mature student and was called to the English Bar.
In his time, Hennigan also scooped many a big story and had interviewed people in every walk of life, from down-at-heel emigrants to Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong and British prime minister Margaret Thatcher. What impressed Peter Barry was that he covered without bias every twist and turn of Anglo-Irish relations, including the Birmingham Six and Guildford Four miscarriages of justice.
He is survived by nieces Bernadette and Geraldine Hennigan, Ann Kelly, Marion Hendrick, Teresa O'Mahony, and nephews PJ Hennigan and Aidan Hennigan. His nephew Tony Hennigan, a columnist with the Irish Independent, was killed with three other Irish journalists in a plane crash on November 13th, 1984.