Martin Dully, who died on March 3rd, aged 67, played a dynamic and pivotal role in the growth and expansion of the Irish tourist and aviation industries.
In a career which spanned 40 years he held senior posts in Aer Lingus, Aer Rianta and Bord Failte. He was the only executive to be appointed both chairman and director-general of Bord Failte. His appointment by the then Minister for Transport and Tourism, Mr Wilson, in April 1988, marked the beginning of a Government drive to double tourist earnings and numbers within five years. Under Martin Dully's direction, and with support from tax incentives and the influx of investment through the European Regional Development Fund, the Business Expansion Scheme, and the International Fund for Ireland, an industry that was seen as stale and stagnant, took off.
Foreign revenues rose to £500 million, 25,000 new jobs were created and the billion-pound business - now presided over by Martin Dully's younger brother, John, current chief executive of Bord Failte - had begun.
By the time Martin Dully retired in March 1993, tourism earnings had set new standards for growth and were among the highest for a single sector within the economy.
Prior to going to Bord Failte, Martin Dully was chief executive of Aer Rianta where, among other things, he had overseen the building of the new runway - one of the major contributing factors to the present traffic boom, making Dublin Airport one of the busiest in Europe. He transformed the airport in other ways - such as laying out extensive landscaping with sculptures in the immediate environs.
At Christmas the airport buildings were transformed into a festive wonderland to welcome visitors and returning emigrants. On the international front, he initiated the drive for Aer Rianta to open up businesses overseas, such as the duty-free shops at Moscow airport, now part of a multi-million pound enterprise world-wide.
Whatever he did, he did well and with prodigious energy - he also did it with style and enthusiasm. A natural leader, he was a tremendous motivator of people. In his Aer Lingus days he urged his staff not just to go for top gear, but into overdrive.
He was a great communicator and was at home in all levels of society. He had a genuine interest in the person and the family of those with whom he worked. Although always fair, he had an uncanny knack for spotting the slacker and the bluffer. Not for nothing was he dubbed the "Silver Fox". In his 30 years in Aer Lingus, which he joined in the mid-1950s, he came up through the ranks and was at the cutting edge of an extraordinary technological revolution in the Ireland of that day.
He began in the cargo department, an excellent training, as one colleague noted, for coping with almost daily contingency and unpredictability.
He saw the growth of Aer Lingus throughout Europe and across the US. As district sales manager in Belfast he inaugurated the first Belfast/US service via Shannon. While his tendency to express his views in a forthright manner might have caused occasional irritation, he was seen as the man to get things done. No-one was surprised when he was appointed to the post of general sales manager world-wide for the airline. Given his talents and drive he could have made it to the top in the private sector, but he chose to remain in the public service. He belonged to a generation that really believed in public service.
One of the many stories he told about his days in the Marist Brothers School in Athlone, was how the president of the day, Brother Hubert, used to exhort his students to "put their minds to studying, make something of themselves so they would grow up and do something to improve the lot of this unfortunate country."
Martin Dully loved Athlone where he was born on November 22nd, 1932, the eldest son of three boys and one girl, to Paddy, an ESB employee, and Catherine Dully.
His life-long interest in all sports began there too. As a Gaelic footballer he played for Westmeath Minors; he was a founder member in Aer Lingus of Parnell's Football Club, but was equally passionate about soccer and in later years took up golf, which he played regularly at St Anne's Golf Club. He met his wife Mary (nee Golden), also from Athlone, while still at school. Always a great home and family man, after his retirement in 1993 he fulfilled a lifelong ambition in building a holiday home in Mulrany where he used to retreat with his family and grandchildren.
He is survived by his wife, Mary; daughters, Majella and Hilary; son, Marty; sister and brothers.
Martin Dully: born 1932; died March, 2000