NORTHERN IRELAND’S FIRST and Deputy First Ministers Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness, and former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern were among the mourners today at the funeral of Edward Haughey in Newry, Co Down.
The Louth-born businessman and former member of Seanad Éireann was one of four men killed in a helicopter crash near his home in Norfolk earlier this month.
He was the founder and chairman of Norbrook, a veterinary pharmaceuticals company, and served in the Seanad during the 1990s. He had been a member of the House of Lords since being named as a Lord Ballyedmond in 2004.
Canon Francis Brown described Haughey as a “self taught, hard working, determined individual” who had a “thirst for knowledge” and described his death as a “huge loss”.
“Edward did not have an easy childhood,” Brown said.
As his father died tragically before he was born. It is thought that this may have had a motivating effect on his ambition to be successful.He always spoke fondly of his mother and encouraged others to cherish the time available with their parents.
Brown said family had been very important for Haughey.
He valued the importance of education and encouraged each sibling to pursue their post primary and third level education.Today’s deceased was someone who had during his life a great influence on so many people both family and friends.
He was also someone who had a huge love of nature, flowers and trees, very much in touch with nature.
[Brian Lawless/PA Wire]
[Brian Lawless/PA Wire]
Brown also spoke of Haughey’s contribution to the area in terms of investment and employment after the businessman returned to Ireland in the 1960s, having worked his way up to a senior position in a pharmaceutical company in the US.
Edward started as a sole trader operating on a very small scale and grew the business to its present scale.As Chairman and Managing Director of Norbrook Laboratories Ltd. and Norbrook Holdings he employed approximately 3,000 people globally with 2,000 staff based in Newry City, many of them graduates and highly qualified PhD scientists.
Today the company is one of largest exporters in the North of Ireland.
Of his work outside the firm, Brown said “Edward made many significant donations over the years to educational establishments and charitable organisations”.
Most of these were never published and many charities and schools in the locality benefited.He had a keen interest in the development of the science subjects in all educational establishments.
Haughey’s death had inflicted “pain and tremendous loss” on his wife Mary, his daughter Caroline and his sons Edward and James, Canon Brown said.
Former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern [Brian Lawless/PA Wire]
Former First Minister David Trimble [Brian Lawless/PA Wire]
Norbrook site foreman Declan Small, and pilots Carl Dickerson and Lee Hoyle also died in the crash that killed Edward Haughey on 13 March.
Politicians from across the political divide paid tribute in the wake of his death, with Cathaoirleach of the Seanad Paddy Burke saying that alongside his success in business, Haughey “will be fondly remembered for his tireless work in securing peace on the island of Ireland”.
Following today’s requiem mass, he was buried close to his birthplace in Kilkurry Parish, Co Louth.
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