Joe McGough, who died recently aged 83, was one of the driving forces behind the development of export markets for Ireland's dairy produce in the 1960s and 1970s.
A Senior Counsel, who served in the Defence Forces for 20 years, he had extensive business interests and served on many public bodies. He was also a Knight of Malta.
Always smartly dressed, he once remarked that "Irish executives, particularly those going abroad and meeting business people coming here, can do a lot for Ireland sartorially."
Joseph Christopher McGough was born in Castlecomer, Co Kilkenny, on December 23rd, 1919, the fourth child of John McGough and his wife, Ann (née Brennan). He grew up in Dublin and was educated at O'Connell Schools, from where he went to University College Dublin.
The Emergency interrupted his studies and, in 1940, he was commissioned in the Signal Corps, later serving in the Air Corps at Baldonnell. While he was there, he resumed his studies and was called to the Bar in 1951, and to the English Bar at Grays Inns in 1957. He was Judge-Advocate on the staff of the Adjutant-General, Defence Forces, and had attained the rank of commandant when he resigned his commission.
In 1945 he married Ann Frances Hanratty, a psychologist, and they had one son and one daughter.
After completing a marketing course at Harvard University, USA, he practised at the Bar for two years (1960-2), during which time he was also part-time secretary of the Irish Exporters Association.
In 1962 he was appointed as secretary of An Bord Bainne, the Irish Dairy Board, then managed by Tony O'Reilly. Joe McGough and O'Reilly were kindred spirits who enjoyed a good working relationship and shared a sense of humour.
Years later, O'Reilly remembered the two of them as "the happiest comedy team since Abbott and Costello".
They worked closely together in launching an Irish branded butter, Kerrygold, in Britain. Promotional competitions were run, with prizes of Irish linen and leprechaun dolls. The dolls proved so popular that, as McGough recalled, people wrote in "to say their luck had changed from the moment they got their Larry the Lucky Leprechaun".
In 1966 he became general manager of An Bord Bainne and, in 1968, he was appointed managing director. By then, Kerrygold was firmly established, not only in Britain, but also in markets across the world.
The board did much to modernise the dairy industry. Efficiency and cost-consciousness were encouraged with the result that, in 1976, McGough could describe the dairy co-operatives as "probably the most cost-conscious sector of Irish industry".
The board itself became a co-operative following Ireland's entry to the European Economic Community so as not to breach Community regulations on monopolies.
McGough was an enthusiastic supporter of the EEC and, while he was critical of aspects of the Common Agricultural Policy, he acknowledged that the fortunes of Irish dairying were closely bound up with its continuation. As such, he voiced strong opposition to any suggestion of dismantling the CAP. He was especially critical of Britain's "consumer-orientated" policies.
As the transition period of Ireland's EEC membership drew to a close, McGough argued for a greater emphasis on formal marketing education so that Ireland could meet the challenge of changed conditions. He had served as chairman of the Marketing Institute of Ireland in 1974 and, in that year also, he had become chairman of the Pigs and Bacon Commission, bringing his experience to bear on another area of agriculture.
In his last public statement as managing director of An Bord Bainne, he urged the government to "get tough" in its dealings with the EEC.
Under his guidance, Irish dairy exports reached a record £400 million in 1977 compared to £7.5 million in 1960. He was proud that not one pound of Irish butter had been sold into intervention.
He resumed his career at the Bar, the government having failed to persuade him to put his name forward for the position of director-general of Radio Telefis Éireann.
His business interests grew and, at one stage, he was a non-executive director of 18 companies and chairman of ten.
McGough's voluntary work included acting as secretary of Our Lady's Hostel for Boys and membership of the Mountjoy After-care Committee. In 1978 he was founding chairman of Co-operation North (now Co-operation Ireland).
This was followed a year later by his appointment as chairman of Gorta, the Freedom from Hunger Council of Ireland.
In 1982 he was appointed to the board of the National Community Development Agency, which was established as part of the "Gregory Deal" agreed by the then Taoiseach, Charles J. Haughey.
He later chaired the Joint Committee on the Newspaper Industry which examined the application of new technology to the print media.
In 1987 Joe McGough began a fourth term as chairman of the Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland. That same year he was conferred with an honorary doctorate of science by the University of Ulster.
His recreational interests included golf, ballet, literature, and theatre.
He is survived by his wife, Ann, son John, and daughter Anne, and his sister Mae.
Joe McGough: born December 23rd, 1919; died November 8th, 2003.