Mr Eugene Quigley, the founder and former chief executive of Flogas, has died after a long illness. Mr Quigley had retired as chief executive in 1975 but remained active in the company as a non-executive director. From Dundalk, Co Louth, he started his career with Kosangas in the 1960s. After some years there he left to set up Ergas in 1972, a venture which was backed by the McGrath family. This company later merged with Kosangas and he moved on to found Flogas in 1978. Under his stewardship, Flogas expanded rapidly, gaining a foothold in the British and Northern Ireland market. It won a significant share of the liquefied petroleum gas market in the Republic. Flogas floated on the Irish Stock Exchange in 1984 and has grown to report profits of up to £50 million last year. Mr Quigley was a fellow of the Marketing Institute and was chairman of the Irish Liquefied Petroleum Gas Association. He was also chairman of the Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda.