Douglas Sloan: DOUGLAS SLOAN, who has died aged 94, was one of the longest serving journalists in Northern Ireland. He worked for over 70 years in newspapers editing the Portadown News and reporting for the Belfast Telegraph in the latter period of his career.
His abilities spanned the whole range of the industry and his writing across a range of subjects showed a breadth and depth of interest few surpassed.
He was born in Tullycleagh near Ballinamallard in 1914 and would often tell of how he remembered the bells tolling for the end of the first World War. Educated at Sydare National School and Enniskillen Tech, he joined the Fermanagh Times as a junior reporter in 1930 and became editor in 1944.
He worked on the Stamp edition of the Belfast Telegraph, an association that was to last 55 years and did the full round of reporting of county courts.
This gave him a lifelong fascination with legal matters but also a fund of stories from more relaxed times. One defendant, in reply to a summons of drunkenness, said: "I don't recognise the court." Asked by the prosecution to explain, he replied: "It's been painted since I was here the last time."
The editorship of the Portadown Times beckoned in 1944 and he moved to the town where he spent the rest of his life. He edited the paper until 1973 when the owner, Sarah Warnock, died and the paper was sold.
Those years as editor were a source of great pride to him. He had to guide the paper and its readers through the early turbulent years of the Troubles and this needed a sure editorial confidence.
He loved the company of both journalists and printers and what he described as "the assurance of the printed word". He also enjoyed writing the column Around The Clock by One Of The Hands.
Saturdays were spent reporting Portadown FC first team and reserve football, including a stretch of games unbroken for 47 years. This also included the unusual professional experience of writing about his son Niall who played for the team for a couple of years in the 70s.
In 1973 he was appointed to the staff of the Belfast Telegraph, remaining in that position until 1983. Following this he worked as a freelance reporter for Belfast and English newspapers and was also a correspondent for BBC, UTV, RTÉ, Downtown Radio, numerous magazines as well as other sections of the media.
He joined the National Union of Journalists in 1945 and was instrumental in founding the Portadown branch and was its honorary secretary until 1986 by which time it had been renamed the Mid-Ulster branch. He had four terms as chairman of the Northern Committee of the NUJ and served for 30 years on the NUJ's Irish Council. He worked hard for journalists' rights and their ability to negotiate wages.
In recognition of his work for the union, he was made a member of honour in 1985, the same year as the former British Labour Party leader, Michael Foot.
He contributed to life in Portadown and its community in many ways. He was a member of Portadown Rotary Club for 37 years, a past president and member of honour. He was also a past vice president of Portadown Junior Chamber of Commerce and a past president of the Chamber of Commerce and was for a period a director of the Portadown Gas Company.
A member of the Church of Ireland, attendance at St Mark's Parish Church fulfilled him greatly. He served for many years on the select vestry of the church and was honorary secretary for 14 years. He was also a long serving member of the Armagh Diocesan Council, a member of the General Synod of the Church of Ireland, a trustee of the Church of Ireland, a director of the Church of Ireland Press, and an Episcopal Elector.
He did four terms as Churchwarden and for 20 years was a member of the representative church body of the Church of Ireland.
He had been a member of St Mark's Choir since 1945 and music played a large part in his life. Like his brother Eddie, he was a talented pianist and he also played violin to a very high standard and for a time led his own dance orchestra. He was a co-founder of Portadown Philharmonic Society.
A committed unionist, he was a member of the Edenderry branch of the Upper Bann Unionist Association and also of both Orange and Black institutions.
In his later years particularly, he found great purpose in his membership of the Masonic Order and forged many great friendships in the Portadown Preceptory of the High Knight Templars, as well as other chapters and lodges.
He would always say that he had an extremely full and rewarding life. His family had been very important to him and his marriage to Isobel Kee (who predeceased him in 2004) in 1947 enriched his life.
He was also very proud of his daughter Eithne, former principal of Downshire Nursery School, Banbridge, and his son Niall, who worked for BBC Sport, son-in-law Mark, daughter-in-law Penny and his grandchildren Patrick, Joseph, William and Katharine.
Douglas Sloan: born July 21st, 1914; died January 3rd, 2009