Irish-American businessman George Moore dies

The death has taken place of George Moore (62), one of the most successful Irish-American businessmen of his generation. Mr Moore died on Wednesday night at his home in Virginia outside Washington DC.

A board member of the Taoiseach’s economic advisory board, Mr Moore ran the Virginia-based marketing technology company TargusInfo that he sold in 2011 for $650 million (€472 million).

Born in Co Louth, the son of a shoemaker, Mr Moore had three brothers and three sisters. He left Ireland in 1972 with two degrees from University College Dublin to study for Masters and Doctorate business degrees at George Washington University.

After leaving college he managed the market analysis division of a company called CACI International in Washington DC. He sold a business based in San Diego called National Decision Systems in 1990 before setting up Targus Information in 1993.

Targus, which was based in the Tyson’s Corner area of Virginia, a hub of technology and financial businesses, provided caller identification services. It helped clients to identify, verify and locate customers, and grew to process about 100 billion transactions a year, generating $149 million a year in revenues.

Outside of this line of business, he bought into crystal and china through Erne Heritage Holdings, which owns Belleek China and Galway Irish Crystal, two well-known Irish brands.

His business expertise was tapped extensively. He was involved in the Irish Technology Leadership Group and a board member of the Northern Ireland Trade and Investment Council, The Flax Trust and the Trustee of the Northern Ireland Memorial Fund.

Always quick to provide insightful advice on Ireland’s economic recovery and a regular visitor back to his native country, he was a participant in the Global Irish Economic Forum.

Mr Moore's impressive track record in business brought him many honours. He received the Outstanding Alumnus Award from University College Dublin in 1991 and was awarded an honorary doctorate in sciences by the University of Ulster in 2006.

The following year he received an honorary CBE from Queen Elizabeth in recognition of his contribution to Northern Ireland's economy.

Mr Moore died of a heart attack at his home in Great Falls, Virginia. He is survived by his wife Angela, his daughter Kerla (34), Gareth (30) and Ashlyn (27), and by his grand-daughter Fiona (2).