Don Reid, a former chairman of The Irish Times Ltd, died yesterday at his home in Co Mayo. He was 82.

Mr Reid was a leading tax practitioner in Ireland for many years. He initially worked for the Revenue Commissioners before joining accountancy firm Kennedy Crowley & Co in the 1960s. This firm merged with Stokes Bros & Pim in 1972 to form Stokes Kennedy Crowley, which later became KPMG.

He became the firm’s senior tax partner and was a key advisor to leading building materials group CRH, businessman Larry Goodman and a number of multi-national companies in Ireland.

A native of Co Sligo, Mr Reid retired as a partner with KPMG Stokes Kennedy Crowley on April 30th 1988. The following day he was appointed as a director to the boards of The Irish Times Ltd and The Irish Times Trust.

Mr Reid was appointed as chairman of The Irish Times Ltd on January 28th 1999 following the retirement of Major Thomas McDowell from this role. He oversaw a major financial and organisation restructuring of the newspaper, including the appointment of Maeve Donovan as managing director in November 2001.

Mr Reid stepped down as chairman of The Irish Times Ltd April 18th 2002, when he was succeeded by Brian Patterson.

Commenting on his role with The Irish Times, current managing director Liam Kavanagh said: "Don appointed me to the board in 2001 and it was a privilege to work with him, particularly in late 2001 and early 2002, as he implemented a wide ranging restructuring of the boards of The Irish Times Limited and The Irish Times Trust. He was a much admired professional, a man of great ability and intellect, and also very good to work with."

Mr Reid's wife Nano died four months ago, aged 83. They were married for 56 years and had five children, including Ronan Reid, the head for many years of Irish stockbroker Dolmen, which is now owned by Cantor Fitzgerald, and nine grandchildren.

In retirement, Mr Reid took particular pride in tending to the gardens at his homes in Dublin and Mayo.