THE IRISH TIMES would not exist today in any recognisable form, if it existed at all, were it not for the contribution of Major Thomas McDowell, who was at the helm of the newspaper for almost 40 years, the chairman of the Irish Times Trust said last night.
Speaking at the unveiling of a portrait of Major McDowell by Andrew Festing at the news-paper’s offices in Tara Street, Dublin, Prof David McConnell paid tribute to his “extraordinary record of service to the newspaper and the country”.
He recalled Major McDowell’s arrival at the newspaper in 1962 and his tenure as chief executive over 35 significant years in the paper’s development.
Major McDowell was responsible for the newspaper passing from private ownership to control by the Irish Times Trust in 1974, an “extraordinary idea” that forged the principles that guide the paper today. “Without your intervention, your coming to the paper in 1962, all that you did in those early years, I think it’s fairly clear that The Irish Times would not exist today in any recognisable form, if it existed at all,” Prof McConnell said.
In attendance with Major McDowell at the reception were his daughters Karen and Penelope and several grandchildren.
The editor of The Irish Times, Geraldine Kennedy, former editor, Conor Brady, and managing director, Maeve Donovan, were also in attendance, as were current and former members of the Irish Times Trust and the board of the Irish Times, and staff members of the paper.
In his address, Major McDowell said he had two loves in his life: “One was my wife and family, the other was The Irish Times”.
Referring to his relationships with editors, he said: “In a newspaper, the most important person is the editor”, although a newspaper could not be published without the invaluable work of the commercial staff.
He recalled an exchange with Mr Brady when he assumed the editor’s position. “I said, Conor, this is like a marriage, but at least you know you can turn your back on me and I won’t put a knife in it. I don’t want your job.”
In closing, Major McDowell referred to current problems at the French newspaper Le Monde, and to the close links between French newspaper proprietors and the country’s political and business elite, noting how President Nicolas Sarkozy once quipped to reporters: “I know your boss”.
“That is the sort of thing the Irish Times Trust was designed to prevent,” Major McDowell said.
