CELEBRATING A CENTURY
Celebrating a century
Gala dinner 'Heralds' a new dawn for firm
Last Thursday was a milestone for the North West of Ireland Printing and Publishing Company when it celebrated the centenary of the founding of the 'Herald' group of newspapers at a gala dinner in the Manor Country House Hotel.
Some 130 guests, including retired and present full-time staff and their partners attended together with the present Board of Directors headed by their Chairman, Austin Lynch.
All four titles were represented - the Ulster Herald, which was founded on August 17th, 1901 the 'Fermanagh Herald' and the 'Donegal News' (Letterkenny), both founded in 1902 and the 'Strabane Chronicle' which the company acquired in 1908.
For the staff of all four the occasion was one of great pride an emotion articulated in his address by Mr Lynch whose grandfather served on the very first Board 100 years previously.
"Yes, perhaps we can feel a certain pride as we gather here this evening that a vision by a small group of people led to something that has lasted 100 years and has played some small part in shaping the community in which it has grown and who gave it their continuing support".
Present with Mr Lynch were his fellow directors, his wife Veronica Lynch his sisters, Anita Currie and Norrie Egan and Mrs Egan's husband, Jack.
At the start of the formalities, which were hosted by Paul Clark, messages of congratulations were read out from the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern and Des Brown, from the Northern Ireland Office on behalf of the Secretary of State.
Paul Clark, who began life as a journalist, said a local paper would remain in a house much longer than any other: "There's a real sense of ownership by the local community and that has been proved on more than one occasion within the circulation of two of the titles".
He referred to the 'Fermanagh Herald's'coverage of the Enniskillen bomb of 1987 and the coverage of the 'Ulster Herald' of the Omagh bomb of 1998. He was roundly applauded when he suggested that the previous day's birth of her first child to Omagh bomb victim, Donna Marie McGillion was an omen for good.
"Comment is free but the facts are sacred and this must always be your watchword," he told his audience.
It was left to a former editor of the 'Ulster Herald', Teddy Quigley (1977-1995) to propose a toast he was also Group Editor for the other three titles until 1995: "It gives me much gratification to see that the editorial department of which I was once leader is keeping abreast of high technology and that many of the reporters began their careers while I was editor", he said.
Among them was the present general manager, Dominic McClements, editor of the 'Fermanagh Herald' from 1995-1999 and the 'Ulster Herald', from 1999 to July this year when he replaced Kevin Mitchell as general manager.
Dominic described the transformation of the papers to date, which has included the redesign of three titles as one of the most significant developments in the company.
"It has been a truly busy year and I thank everyone involved, particularly those in our Gortrush Printing Works who often worked through the night to the wee small hours till the papers were printed".
He said that the 'Herald' group had now progressed rapidly from the old 'cut and paste' methods to electronic pagination and that now with the development of web sites for each title, 'we have the opportunity to reach former readers across the globe, virtually on a daily basis'.
Among the principal presentations of the night were of a painting of Bewley's in Dublin to Austin Lynch, where he spent many happy hours as an undergraduate by his sister, Norrie Egan to mark his service to the company as managing director, now retired.
And, there were 12 long-service awards to those members of staff with 25-plus years, by Mr Lynch himself. Among the recipients were Aidan O'Neill (44 years), Brian Eccles (43 years), Andy Hyndman (40 years), Jim Dunne, Kevin McCaul and Eileen McGee (33 years), Joe Quinn (31 years), Jackie Sloan (30 years), Philomena McNabb (27 years) and John McCusker (26 years). Michael Martin (26 years) and Michael Breslin (27 years), both attached to the Fermanagh Herald, were also presented with awards.
Andrew Hyndman made a presentation to Austin Lynch on behalf of all the employees. Andy, who works on screen make up, told him that he and his family were held in great esteem by everyone in the community.
"You took great pride in what we were doing and you realised the important contribution of our readers. We all appreciated the generosity of the company directors and there has always been a great working relationship between staff and senior management".
Gala dinner 'Heralds' a new dawn for firm
Last Thursday was a milestone for the North West of Ireland Printing and Publishing Company when it celebrated the centenary of the founding of the 'Herald' group of newspapers at a gala dinner in the Manor Country House Hotel.
Some 130 guests, including retired and present full-time staff and their partners attended together with the present Board of Directors headed by their Chairman, Austin Lynch.
All four titles were represented - the Ulster Herald, which was founded on August 17th, 1901 the 'Fermanagh Herald' and the 'Donegal News' (Letterkenny), both founded in 1902 and the 'Strabane Chronicle' which the company acquired in 1908.
For the staff of all four the occasion was one of great pride an emotion articulated in his address by Mr Lynch whose grandfather served on the very first Board 100 years previously.
"Yes, perhaps we can feel a certain pride as we gather here this evening that a vision by a small group of people led to something that has lasted 100 years and has played some small part in shaping the community in which it has grown and who gave it their continuing support".
Present with Mr Lynch were his fellow directors, his wife Veronica Lynch his sisters, Anita Currie and Norrie Egan and Mrs Egan's husband, Jack.
At the start of the formalities, which were hosted by Paul Clark, messages of congratulations were read out from the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern and Des Brown, from the Northern Ireland Office on behalf of the Secretary of State.
Paul Clark, who began life as a journalist, said a local paper would remain in a house much longer than any other: "There's a real sense of ownership by the local community and that has been proved on more than one occasion within the circulation of two of the titles".
He referred to the 'Fermanagh Herald's'coverage of the Enniskillen bomb of 1987 and the coverage of the 'Ulster Herald' of the Omagh bomb of 1998. He was roundly applauded when he suggested that the previous day's birth of her first child to Omagh bomb victim, Donna Marie McGillion was an omen for good.
"Comment is free but the facts are sacred and this must always be your watchword," he told his audience.
It was left to a former editor of the 'Ulster Herald', Teddy Quigley (1977-1995) to propose a toast he was also Group Editor for the other three titles until 1995: "It gives me much gratification to see that the editorial department of which I was once leader is keeping abreast of high technology and that many of the reporters began their careers while I was editor", he said.
Among them was the present general manager, Dominic McClements, editor of the 'Fermanagh Herald' from 1995-1999 and the 'Ulster Herald', from 1999 to July this year when he replaced Kevin Mitchell as general manager.
Dominic described the transformation of the papers to date, which has included the redesign of three titles as one of the most significant developments in the company.
"It has been a truly busy year and I thank everyone involved, particularly those in our Gortrush Printing Works who often worked through the night to the wee small hours till the papers were printed".
He said that the 'Herald' group had now progressed rapidly from the old 'cut and paste' methods to electronic pagination and that now with the development of web sites for each title, 'we have the opportunity to reach former readers across the globe, virtually on a daily basis'.
Among the principal presentations of the night were of a painting of Bewley's in Dublin to Austin Lynch, where he spent many happy hours as an undergraduate by his sister, Norrie Egan to mark his service to the company as managing director, now retired.
And, there were 12 long-service awards to those members of staff with 25-plus years, by Mr Lynch himself. Among the recipients were Aidan O'Neill (44 years), Brian Eccles (43 years), Andy Hyndman (40 years), Jim Dunne, Kevin McCaul and Eileen McGee (33 years), Joe Quinn (31 years), Jackie Sloan (30 years), Philomena McNabb (27 years) and John McCusker (26 years). Michael Martin (26 years) and Michael Breslin (27 years), both attached to the Fermanagh Herald, were also presented with awards.
Andrew Hyndman made a presentation to Austin Lynch on behalf of all the employees. Andy, who works on screen make up, told him that he and his family were held in great esteem by everyone in the community.
"You took great pride in what we were doing and you realised the important contribution of our readers. We all appreciated the generosity of the company directors and there has always been a great working relationship between staff and senior management".
Further Information
Publisher: ULSTER HERALD
Ref: UH/0840
Published Date: 06-Sep-01
Related Images
