A distinguished military and foreign affairs analyst
COL E.D. (Ned) Doyle, who has died aged 90, was a distinguished military and foreign affairs analyst who served with the Defence Forces at home and abroad with the United Nations.
Edward Daly Doyle was born in Dublin in May 1919 and was named after the commandant of Dublin's 1st battalion in the Easter Rising of 1916, who was subsequently executed. His father, Seamus, had been involved in the 1916 Rising and lost his job in the Dublin Gas Company as a result. His mother, Margaret, died of tuberculosis when he was nine, and his father remarried.
He attended secondary school at St Joseph's CBS in Fairview, Dublin, better known as "Joey's", and his first job was with An Post. In October 1940 he joined the Army as one of a group of postal office staff qualified in signals and communications who were recruited at the time.
Also recruited was the late Douglas Gageby, former editor of The Irish Times, and the pair became lifelong friends. They met in early 1943 in Dublin during a preliminary course in officer training for selected non-commissioned officers and privates.
"And so, what Douglas called 'the days of pounding boots' began," Col Doyle recalled in An Irishman's Diary, published in this newspaper on July 17th, 2004, shortly after Gageby's death.
"Cross-country runners like me enjoyed it and Douglas had no difficulty. I recall running from the college to Connelford on the Liffey, near Newbridge.
"After rapid orders we went straight in wearing boots, uniforms, 'jampot' leggings, helmets - the lot," he continued. "I was given the light lead rope. It was attached to a heavier one that it pulled across. The platoon crossed beside the heavy rope and Douglas was the leading swimmer.
"I looked back and can still see the sunshine on his helmet and half-submerged face, alive with the joy we felt at being young, fit and doing something taxing."
Col Doyle married Betty in September 1947 and the couple reared six children. A keen cross-country runner, he took up sailing during his time in the Curragh. As a result, he and his family became active members of Blessington Sailing Club in Co Wicklow, where the Curragh sailors were based.
He served as the club's honorary secretary for many years, and encouraged many young sailors to develop skills on the lake and to compete in dinghy sailing. "He had a great presence and was a real gentleman," one former club member recalls.
While in the Army, he studied engineering in Kevin Street college of technology, taking City and Guilds exams and qualifying latterly as an electrical engineer. He spent many years as a staff officer in Army planning & operations.
His many missions overseas included the Congo (1960-1961) and Cyprus (1967-1968), and he spent two years from 1975 with the UN Truce Supervision Organisation in Lebanon, Golan Heights and Sinai. He was Chief Observer of Observer Group Sinai, part of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation (UNTSO), responsible for the day-to-day monitoring of the ceasefire between Israel and Egypt.
In this role, he commanded a mixed force which included officers from Russia and the US, among other countries. It was an experiment at the time which helped to lay the foundation for the Camp David accords of 1978, and a number of other Irish officers were to take up this responsibility in his wake.
On retiring from the Army in 1984, he worked on a consultative basis for a number of years on communications, and spent 10 years in this capacity with the Irish Independent. He also lectured in mathematics at night in Kevin Street.
He was approached by Douglas Gageby to write for this newspaper, drawing on his experience in the Middle East and his knowledge of military tactics and international peacekeeping. His assessment of the first Gulf War in 1991 conferred a unique authority on Irish Times reporting of this period, and he was a regular participant on RTÉ television.
As a committed nationalist, he advised the newspaper on operational matters throughout the conflict in the North in the 1980s. After Gageby's retirement, his successor Conor Brady maintained his commitment to Col Doyle.
He retained links with the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, the Royal Irish Academy, the Military History Society of Ireland, the National Gallery of Ireland and the Chester Beatty Library. He lectured at Trinity College's Centre for Contemporary Irish History and he contributed regularly to the Defence Forces journal.
Colleagues in this newspaper remember his courteous manner and impeccable appearance and demeanour. "He was a renaissance man, a true internationalist. His articles were informed and erudite, and written in an even, measured tone," one colleague recalls.
His family said he set a simple and honourable standard in everything he did: "Never ask anyone to do something that you would not do yourself."
Col Doyle, whose wife predeceased him, is survived by his six children, Ciarán, Patricia, Etain, Brendan, Geraldine and Martin; his brother Seán, and nine grand-children. His brother Seamus and two sisters, Mary and Roisín, also predeceased him.
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Col Edward Daly Doyle: born May 15th, 1919; died May 25th, 2009.