Irish Examiner view: Key role in our transformation

Brian Looney RIP

Brian Looney’s energy and ambition were key to the transformation of this newspaper.

The passing of former Examiner editor Brian Looney at the age of just 63 is a terrible blow to his family, his friends, and the array of former colleagues who worked with him here and in publications around the country.

Brian’s energy and ambition were key to the transformation of this newspaper, from The Cork Examiner to The Examiner and then to the Irish Examiner.

It was a huge challenge to steer the organisation through such profound change, and it is to his credit that he managed both, change and challenge, so successfully in his time at the helm.

That was the broad picture, strategising long term for an entire business rather than dealing with the day-to-day challenges and problems thrown up by a busy newsroom, but Brian excelled at the latter part of the editor’s job as well.

His talents when it came to newspaper production and design dovetailed with acute political antennae and the greatest quality any journalist can have — an eye for a story — to produce a much-respected newspaper.

Brian also excelled when it came to one of an editor’s hardest jobs, identifying those who could improve the newspaper. His radar for journalistic talent was always particularly sharp and has been affirmed in recent days by the number and variety of writers and reporters paying tribute to him for giving them their first opportunities and bylines.

Intelligent, engaging, and gregarious, he will be missed by his many friends in journalism and beyond.

Condolences to his family. May he rest in peace.