THE DEATH has taken place of the noted businessman Hugh V Flinn, founder of the Ireland Institute, international engineering concern the PW Group and the Druid’s Glen golf resort in Co Wicklow.
Mr Flinn, who was also widely known by his father’s name Hugo, was born in Cork in June 1922, to Hugo and Monica Flinn. His father was first elected a member of Dáil Éireann in 1927 and served as a parliamentary secretary in a number of Éamon de Valera’s administrations.
Mr Flinn founded HD Engineering with his brother Donal, who was later to become chairman of the Irish Press Group, in 1948. Renamed Public Works, it became one of the largest civil engineering firms in the State, with operations across Ireland and the UK.
The brothers set up PW Nigeria in 1974 and as PW Group it now has civil engineering offshoots in Nigeria, Ghana and Tanzania, as well as a marine services division. He moved to Nigeria in 1975 to oversee business but maintained a regular correspondence with this and other newspapers on events in Northern Ireland.
On his frequent visits home he found time to develop Druid’s Glen Golf Club and the adjacent Druid’s Heath course and hotel. The resort, which hosted the Irish Open and the PGA Championship, has won numerous awards.
His friend Damien Kiberd, former editor of the Sunday Business Post, yesterday remembered Mr Flinn's support for the opening of the restored Pearse family home at 27 Pearse Street, Dublin, as home to the Ireland Institute for Historical and Cultural Studies. "Without his generosity it wouldn't have happened. We opened it on July 14th, Bastille Day, because of the republican ideals of equality, fraternity and liberty. He was a man on a large scale," he said.
Mr Flinn was predeceased by his son Brian, and is survived by his wife Vivienne, daughters Deirdre and Fiona and sons Donal and Michael. His removal is this evening to the Church of the Holy Rosary, Greystones, arriving at 7:30pm. The funeral is tomorrow after 10am Mass to Redford Cemetery.
