President Michael D Higgins has described the late Tony O’Reilly as a man of ‘great personal charm’ who had an “extraordinary philanthropic vision”.
Tributes continue to pour in for the businessman who died aged 88, in St Vincent’s Hospital, Dublin, on Saturday morning, after a two-week battle with pneumonia.
His family are now preparing for his funeral in Dublin later this week.
President Higgins said: “It is understandable that the positive contribution in terms of utilising the Irish diaspora at a time of Ireland’s difficulties, through the Ireland Funds and the impact which that made on a North/South basis, will be at the top of most people’s list of the contributions that he made.”
The Ireland Funds funnelled money from US donors into reconciliation projects around the border.
President Higgins said “leadership he gave in that action was at a time when Ireland needed to draw on all of the contacts and friends that it had”.
He said: “The innovation that was part of all of his life extended from the application of science and technology, sport, the labyrinthine nature of commerce and the ever-tumultuous space that constituted newspaper ownership at home and abroad, to what was a personal commitment to staying with what he saw as a symbolic Irish activity in Waterford Crystal.
“His life was, by any measure, a full one and he will be missed by all of those who knew him…”
DMG Media Ireland CEO Paul Henderson said: “As a marketeer Tony was light years ahead of the pack. As a publisher he was a champion of the written word. As a proud Irishman he was a global ambassador for a new Ireland finding her feet.
“He was warm and charming with a sharp edge. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family. RIP The Player.’
Taoiseach Simon Harris said: “Mr O’Reilly was a giant of sport, business and media and left permanent legacies in all three. He was a trailblazer who aimed big on the international business scene.
“Through his work in the UK, US and Ireland, he forged a path that many other international business figures from Ireland would follow.
“Modern-day Ireland likes to see itself as an island in the centre of the world – Tony O’Reilly was one of the first Irish business people to truly believe that.”
He said Mr O’Reilly’s establishment of the Ireland Funds had a transformative effect on Ireland, saying: “Tony O’Reilly was a giant and his passing will be felt by the many people he encountered in his long life.”
Born in Dublin in 1936, O’Reilly made his international debut for Ireland in rugby in 1955 and was soon the youngest player to be selected for the Lions.
He pioneered the brand Kerrygold, turning it into one of Ireland’s most well-known brands.
He later became chairman of food giant Heinz and in 1973 took control of Independent Newspapers.
His family said: “He lived one of the great lives and we were fortunate to spend time with him in recent weeks as that great life drew to a close.”