obituaries


Peter O’Rourke


Life member Peter O’Rourke died in February in his 90th year at home in Larne, Northern Ireland. His passing breaks a link to the Northern Irish local press of the 1950s. For years, Peter was a stalwart of the union in Northern Ireland. He held the onerous office of Belfast Branch treasurer for 15 years and served two terms on the Irish executive council. He was also a chapel officer in Belfast daily the Irish News. A friend of his daughter Fiona told her: “The first time I met your dad, the first thing he said to me was: ‘Are you in a union?’ ” He was both a fine production journalist and a


fine writer. His column on traditional Irish music, Dúchas (Heritage), ran for many years in the Irish News. He was a fine singer, mostly of Irish traditional and folk songs, and sang in a local church choir. The Armagh Festival of Traditional Song gave him an award for his work in promoting Irish music. Sometimes he turned his musical talents to the


union’s benefit. Irish secretary Séamus Dooley remembers a sharp disagreement with him – and Peter singing Eileen O’Grady in the bar afterwards and some old ballads, with both joining in. Peter’s contributions to debates were short and touched with humour. He was a sports fan, especially of horse-racing. He entered journalism accidentally. His first career choice was hotel management. Then he thumbed a lift from a local newspaperman. After asking a few questions, the driver said: “We could do with a fella like you.” Thus began his career in the Observer group of local papers. Peter was born in Carrickfergus, Co Antrim, in 1933. As a boarder at St Patrick’s College, Armagh, his first signs of trade union spirit appeared when students went on strike over poor food. In his mid-20s, he moved to England, working


on several local papers in the South East. In 1974, he returned to Ireland as editor of the Carrickfergus Advertiser; he was then at the Irish News until retirement. He is survived by his wife Rita, daughters


Fiona, Grainne and Siobhan, son Eamonn and grandchildren Rachel and Freddie.


Anton McCabe 26 | theJournalist


Pat Bowman


Pat Bowman, life member of the NUJ, died suddenly at home in November aged 95. Like many journalists of his generation, he left school at 16 and joined the local paper. It was the start of what became a distinguished career in public relations. He was active in the union in his younger years, attending 15 annual conferences and doing a lot of committee work and training. He chaired the press and public relations branch, and was praised for taking difficult decisions without causing a riot. He was a prime mover for cooperation with the Institute of Journalists and the Institute for Public Relations (IPR) and for five years sat on a committee helping to modernise the union’s operations. Through the NUJ, he met Nigel Ellis. They edited The Handbook of Public Relations; this was translated into three languages. Next, they wrote Manual of Public Relations (they are pictured at its book launch – Pat is on the right). The book stayed in print for 25 years – Nigel calculated it earnt them just £48 a year over this period. It is hard to understand how new the idea of PR


was then. At both British Aluminium then Lloyds Bank from 1972, Pat set up a PR department and established the role as a senior management function. At Lloyds, he directed the sponsorship programme, and stayed in contact with Riding for the Disabled, Action Research and the National Youth Orchestra after he left. In spite of a damaged arm (from polio as a teenager) he learnt to ride. He became a fellow of the IPR and put a lot of


work into the push for it to gain chartered status. The then-president Peter Smith remembers him as a ‘consummate professional’ with an ‘impish sense of humour’ when things were difficult. At the British Association of Industrial Editors,


he contributed to a course and judged awards. In retirement, his interests in the theatre, film and jazz revived, and he volunteered with the arts cinema in Chichester. His speaking skills were put to good use with Talking Books, compering the local jazz club and being the announcer at the village summer show. He leaves behind four children, seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.


Alison Blair


David Phillips


For decades, freelance reporter and photographer David Phillips was a familiar face around Perthshire. Until his recent death at the age of 84 in Dundee’s Ninewells Hospital following a short illness, he was still covering community events in the county town of Blairgowrie for the local press. Among those at his funeral at Blairgowrie


Parish Church were former colleagues and fellow members of the Perth and District branch NUJ, local politicians of various hues and Scotland’s deputy first minister and MSP John Swinney. After leaving the town’s high school aged 14,


David was a compositor at the Blairgowrie Advertiser before and after national service with the Black Watch. A love of Edinburgh, forged during his time barracked at the castle, tempted him back to the capital for two years with book publishers Maurice and Gibb. But Perthshire and in particular Blairgowrie were in his DNA. David was still a compositor when he started reporting in 1969 and, for the rest of his days, he was to be seen in and around the town with a camera around his neck, while adamant he was ;a journalist that just happened to take photos’. He was editor of the Alyth Gazette and


Guardian and worked as a freelance charting the full gamut of local events, managing the Blairie office from 1987 until its closure and covering his patch for national and regional papers including The Courier and the Press and Journal. In his red anorak, David was a weel-kent face at


county events, including the Aberfeldy Show and Strathardle Highland Gathering. He played an integral role in community life; he served the cricket club for over four decades, as a player, captain, secretary and honorary vice-president. He relished his trips to Australia for The Ashes, telling people his happy place was the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Warm tributes were paid by clubs and societies in Blairgowrie and beyond. At the funeral, Rev Brian Dingwall said family


man David, known as Scoop, had been ‘an iconic figure’ in the town, and that most locals aged under 60 were sure to have been photographed by him while at primary school or involved in organisations that are central to any community.


Gordon Bannerman


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