Michael Colley, who died last week, was one of the pioneers of the public relations industry in Ireland.
For 25 years he was head of the PR division in the Electricity Supply Board, which played an active role in communicating with the communities which the ESB served, and with business, agriculture and government, as well as with the media.
He was an active member of the Public Relations Institute of Ireland from the time it was established in 1953 and was elected president in 1962, 1970, and 1976. He wrote a history of the institute and the PR industry, which was published in 1993.
Both his father, Michael, and his mother, Margaret, came from Dublin and the family home was in Ranelagh. His father was an umbrella maker with Johnsons of Nassau Street and worked there until he was 88.
Born in 1922, Michael Colley attended national school at Marlborough St and secondary school in Coláiste Mhuire, Parnell Square.
He began his working life as a journalist and worked with the Standard weekly newspaper. In 1948 he joined the public relations section of Henry Ford and Son Ltd in Cork.
He became public relations manager with the ESB in 1957. During his long tenure he developed the ESB's communications role. He also continued and expanded its enlightened sponsorship of civic and artistic events, which reflected his own interest in communities and their heritage as well as in the performing arts and Irish literature.
Retiring from the ESB in 1982, he became a director of Murray Consultants and worked there until 1987. In his latter years he devoted considerable time and effort to his local community in south county Dublin.
One of the highlights of his career came in 1969 when the troubles in Northern Ireland began to escalate. Along with public relations colleagues from other state-sponsored bodies and government departments, he became part of an information service whose role was to disseminate the Irish government viewpoint on all the issues involved.
Up to that time most of the world media depended on British government sources for an assessment of the situation in Northern Ireland. Until 1972 Michael Colley was attached to the Irish embassy in Stockholm, from where he dealt effectively with the Scandinavian media.
The greatest concentration of world media personnel to assemble in this country was in the Phoenix Park in 1979 during the papal visit. Michael Colley headed a team from the ESB to deal with the hundreds of journalists among the estimated one million people.
A media centre was established near the high altar with two towers erected for the use of TV cameras and photographers. The most up-to-date systems available at that time were installed: direct telephone and telex lines, wire photo machines, a photographic dark room, multilingual translation facilities.
He oversaw the operation with customary calm and good humour.
The day in the Phoenix Park began at 5 a.m. and the cleaning-up operation finished just before midnight, he wrote later.
Michael Colley had a seminal influence on the development of the public relations industry in Ireland.
During his terms as president he worked closely with the long-time secretary of the institute, who was also his colleague in the ESB, Gladys McNevin.
He was a strong advocate of the need for the training and education of both practitioners and newcomers. His influence was seen in the courses which the institute began to provide and which laid the ground for the well-established educational system that pertains today, with examinations being held to meet the requirements of the syllabus set by the institute.
In lecturing to students he always stressed the need for honesty, for writing and speaking skills, and a knowledge of the media and how it works. He placed a particular emphasis on good judgment and defined it as the ability to assess a situation, to look beyond the immediate position, to foresee the possible consequences of any proposed action and to grasp how outsiders will view it.
He was a keen golfer and, in his younger days, a good tennis player. He was an avid reader and assembled one of the most comprehensive libraries of Irish literature.
He leaves a wife, Eithne; and sons Austin, Michael and Declan, and six grandchildren.
Michael Colley: born 1922; died April 6th, 2004