Tributes paid to media tycoon who helped rebuild Omagh

A WARM tribute has been paid to the late Irish media tycoon, Tony O’Reilly, who established a fund which donated £500,000 for the reconstruction of Omagh after the 1998 bomb devastated the town centre.

Mr O’Reilly (88), who was also a former Irish rugby international, died on Saturday at St Vincent’s University Hospital in Dublin after a short illness.

At the height of the Troubles in 1976, Mr O’Reilly and Dan Rooney established The Ireland Funds, which gave money from US donors to reconciliation projects around the Irish border.

Between 2000 and 2002, the Ireland Funds donated over $600,000 that was used to help build Omagh’s Community House and other projects after the 1998 Real IRA bomb.

Speaking to the UlsterHerald this week, a former investment banker from Omagh, Chris McGale, described knowing Mr O’Reilly as a ‘privilege’.

“I got to know Tony very well for three or four years in the early 2000s,” Mr McGale said.

“It was extraordinary to get to know him.

“I worked as a fundraiser for Merrill MD bank to raise money for Omagh after the bombing,” he added.

Paying tribute to his legacy, Mr McGale said, “He was a great businessman sportsman and philanthropist. He created the Ireland Funds and did so much for peace on the island.

“He was a great Irishman and the whole country will lament for him.”

Mr O’Reilly built an international media business which at one stage owned more than 100 newspapers, including the Irish Independent and Belfast Telegraph.

Born in Dublin in 1936, he made his international debut for Ireland in rugby in 1955 and became the youngest player to be selected for the British and Irish Lions scoring a record 37 tries for the Lions.