Former 'Irish Examiner' editor Brian Looney dies
Former Examiner' Editor 'irish Brian Of The Looney,
The death has taken place, following a short illness, of the former editor of the , Brian Looney, at the age of 63.
A well-known and popular figure among the media in Ireland, Mr Looney, from the Lee Rd and living at Thomond Square in Cork City, died on Monday evening. He is survived by his brothers Ivor, Michael, and Aquinas.
Mr Looney, who attended Presentation Brothers College in Cork, joined the personnel department of Mech Con, a Cork-based construction company, on leaving school before moving to Limerick to work as a newspaper reporter.
He enjoyed a long and successful career in journalism, first as a reporter with the and later with the and the . He then moved to Tralee and went on to become the editor of , one of Ireland’s biggest-selling regional weekly newspapers.
Mr Looney took over as editor from Seamus McConville in 1988 and oversaw the transformation of into the country’s first fully computerised regional title. He was at that stage the youngest newspaper editor in the country.
In 1994 Mr Looney took over from Fergus O’Callaghan as editor of what was then the , steering computerisation as well as brand changes and expanding the newspaper to give it a more national perspective.
In 1998 the title was changed to and later to the .
He left the in 2001 to pursue his other passion: politics but, after a short period as director of policy communications with Fine Gael, Mr Looney returned to mainstream journalism on his appointment as managing director of the .
In 2005, when the Leinster Leader group took over Tallaght Pubishing, the owner of Dublin suburban newspaper , Mr Looney replaced the paper’s founder, David Kennedy, as managing director, combining that role with his position as managing director of the .
In more recent years, Mr Looney was a media consultant, where he combined his wide experience in journalism with extensive knowledge of politics and management.
He was a graduate of the European Journalism Centre in Maastricht, Holland, and the Scandanavian Management Institute and was awarded a Certificate in Competitive Strategy by the Insead Management School in Fontainebleau, France.
Staff at the express our condolences to Brian's family, friends, and former colleagues.
• Former editor of the , Tim Vaughan, said: "Brian transformed the at a critical time in its history, in the mid-'90s, when it needed the vision and ambition that he had in spades.
"That ambition for what the newspaper could be, what it could achieve, was the mark of a real leader — and, almost 30 years later, it still lives on in the success of the .
"He was a big-intellect, big-picture guy who knew what needed to be done — and he had the talent, drive, and fortitude to get it done.
"Brian was also brilliant at spotting and mentoring promising young journalists, many of whom hold senior positions across Ireland’s newspaper and broadcast media today.
"I will remember Brian for his wicked sense of fun and that wonderful roguish smile of his — and the kindness and generosity he showed to many people."