Cathal Mac Gabhann
Born in Dublin 76 years ago, he was educated in St Joseph's, Fairview, where his CBS contemporaries included future ministers Charles J Haughey and the late George Colley and Kevin Boland.
A graduate in commerce from UCD, Mr Mac Gabhann began his career in Gaeltarra after it was established as a separate state body in 1957 when he became its chief accountant. He returned to Gaeltarra as general manager in 1966 after a new board under Dr Ivor Kenny set about drastically reforming Gaeltacht industrial policy in the Whitaker free-trade era.
This involved radical thinking, since the traditional 'cottage' industries which Gaeltarra inherited - toys, knitwear and tweed - were scattered uneconomically. Mac Gabhann's first initiative was to relocate these with regional HQ in Spideal, Tourmakeady and Kilcar.
He then made the radical suggestion that the Gaeltarra HQ should move from Dublin's Westland Row to a Gaeltacht location, but had to fight an uphill battle to bring the capital of Gaeltacht development to Na Forbacha, seven miles west of Galway city, at a time when there were no dial telephones in any Gaeltacht area.
Mr Mac Gabhann selected clusters of industrial units for development in An Bun Beag and An Cheathru Rua. These were located primarily because of local initiative but also because Mac Gabhann saw them as being at the heart of genuinely Irish-speaking areas, unlike some factories he had inherited.
He also set about modernising Gaeltacht tourism and appointed the late Sean O Riada as a cultural adviser on Gaeltacht tourist entertainment.
Mr Mac Gabhann also had radical views on decentralisation, having proposed to his former classmate CJ Haughey when he was Minister for Finance that the government consider Athlone as the political capital of Ireland, with Dublin remaining as commercial capital on the federal model of the US, Canada and Australia.
He was basically opposed to the idea of a democratically elected Gaeltacht authority pursuing industrial development projects in an era of increasing multinational competitiveness. He had suffered more than most at the hands of local politicians who regularly involved themselves inappropriately in headline-making 'Gaeltacht rows' while at the same time massively neglecting their own basic responsibility for the development of roads and public water supply.
Mr Mac Gabhann oversaw the transition of Gaeltarra from a state company to a mainly elected development authority in 1979-'80 when the late Denis Gallagher finally delivered on the long-term political promise of a "new Udaras" - but by a strange twist of irony, Mr Gallagher was sacked as minister by the new FF Taoiseach Charles J Haughey on the very day that the first Udaras elections were held.
He was for a number of years a member of the board of Gael-Linn. He was bitterly opposed to some of the recent planning development decisions in the Barna area and was involved in the campaign to allow a more flexible approach to once-off house development in rural areas.
Mr Mac Gabhann is survived by his wife, Monica, three daughters and three sons.
Solas na bhFlaithis go raibh aige.
- Nollaig O Gadhra
