Tim Dennehy, who died on June 29th aged 80, was one of the pioneers of the public relations industry in Ireland. Born in Tralee in 1919, he came from a nationalist family well known in public life. His father, a publican, was a member of the urban district council and Kerry County Council, as well as being a prominent figure in the Cumann na nGaedheal party.
Having attended Tralee CBS, he began his journalistic career in 1940 as a reporter with the Kerryman, under the editorship of Paddy Foley.
In 1945 he applied for a job in Radio Eirean n and was made a member of the newsroom staff at the Henry Street studios in Dublin. He was then offered a job as a reporter with the Irish Independent. In 1953 he moved to the Irish Press, where he was art editor and a news editor. At the invitation of Dr C.S. (Tod) Andrews he joined Coras Iompair Eireann (CIE) in 1959 as its first head of publicity and public relations. He established an effective system of communication with the media which had not previously been in place. Not alone that, but he emphasised to management the value and the necessity of an open conduit of contact with the public through the media. His saw a primary part of his role as facilitating the media in an honest, open and transparent way. He initiated the Drive Time traffic information slot on the Gay Byrne evening radio programme on RTE. For the first time, an up-to-the-minute system of news about CIE services became available to radio and the print media. He nurtured and expanded the responsibilities of the public relations office and, in time, ensured that well-trained and accomplished professionals were part of his team.
Tim Dennehy and his colleagues from other State and State-sponsored bodies formed a co-ordination committee to encourage high standards in the practice of their information and public relations roles. Their activities led to other public bodies appointing information officers, usually experienced journalists. This in turn encouraged Government to give greater attention to media.
In 1969, when the Northern Troubles made headlines around the world, the Jack Lynch government was aware that the international media and news services drew their information entirely from British sources. A team of information and public relations officers from State and semi-State bodies was dispatched to embassies round the globe in order to disseminate the Irish viewpoint. Because of his high reputation and experience, Tim Dennehy was given a co-ordinating role for this information initiative. He and Captain Jack Millar of Aer Lingus fulfilled this role with distinction from an office in Government Buildings in Merrion Street.
Tim Dennehy had special responsibility for information strategy and he devised systems which were subsequently adopted by the Department of Foreign Affairs. In 1970 he left CIE and set up his own public relations consultancy, Dennehy Associates, where he was joined two years later by his son Michael. He retired as chairman in 1988. He was one of the most influential members of the then relatively-new Public Relations Institute of Ireland (PRII). He consistently emphasised the need for the highest standards of conduct so that people in the industry could win respect both from media and from their employers.
He was elected president of the Institute three times - in 1965, 1971 and 1977. During these terms he reiterated the need for the professional approach to public relations. He helped lay the foundation for the courses which were conducted by the Institute itself for many years, culminating in the development of a national syllabus and the acceptance of the Institute as the accreditation and examination body for courses given by other bodies. He was elected a Fellow of the Institute in 1997. The PRII played a major role in media handling during the visit of Pope John Paul II in 1979. Tim Dennehy became director of the national press centre in Dublin Castle when some 3,000 journalists were accredited to cover what was a momentous public event. The high standards of media handling drew an accolade from Reuters, which declared that this was the best organised media event it had ever covered. Tim Dennehy was precise in his use of language and meticulous in choosing the right word to convey his precise meaning and this trait was often put to amusing if not hilarious use in his renowned anecdotal skill. He had a repository of stories and yarns garnered during his varied career. His wry comment and acid wit will especially be remembered by the many journalists and public relations people who knew him. His leaving was in the manner of his living - quiet, dignified and gentlemanly.
He married Joan Lawlor, daughter of Dr Michael and Teenie Lawlor of Ardfert, in 1945. They had four children - Michael, David, Mary (Healy) and Timothy. He is survived by his wife and children and his sisters, Sister Anselm OP, Dominican convent, Dun Laoghaire, and Mrs Alice Dempsey, widow of the late Col Pat Dempsey, Adjutant General and Assistant Chief of Staff of the Army.
Tim Dennehy: born 1919; died June, 1999