Colleagues have paid tribute to Michael Finlan (better known as Mick), a former west of Ireland correspondent of The Irish Times, whose funeral was held on Friday.
Mr Finlan, who was 92, was a native of Ballina, Co Mayo, but lived for many years in Oranmore, Co Galway.
He started his career as a journalist in the Western People and later moved to the Irish News Agency, created in 1949 by the inter-party coalition government to counter perceived pro-British bias in the media.
In 1952, the INA sent Mr Finlan to work in its Belfast bureau. He later emigrated to Canada and worked in radio and television there for 12 years, then returned to Ireland in the late 1960s and worked for the Irish Press.
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He started writing for The Irish Times in 1969 and worked again in Belfast. In 1973, he was appointed western correspondent of the newspaper. He eventually retired in 1996, but continued to contribute articles up to six years ago.
Fellow Mayo-born journalist John Healy, with whom he worked on The Irish Times and the Western People, was a friend.
Mr Finlan, who died in University Hospital Galway, is survived by his wife Marie, daughter Mary Rose and sons Michael and James.
His funeral on Friday morning was held at Good Shepherd Church, Cumasú Centre, Doughiska Road, near Galway city, with burial afterwards at Rinville cemetery, Oranmore.
Former editor of The Irish Times Conor Brady described Mr Finlan as “wonderfully lyrical in his reportage” and “a great character and gentleman”.
“He was one of a cadre of Irish Press newsmen, drawn mainly from the west and south who brought a rugged integrity to Irish newspaper reporting. They had no formal training and what they learned was by apprenticeship in the ‘school of hard knocks’.
“They often had to withstand political pressure from the Fianna Fáil/de Valera management at the Press. Many - including Finlan - were glad of the opportunity to follow Douglas Gageby up the street to The Irish Times.”
“He was always interesting company and possessed a lethal sense of humour,” another former colleague, Frank Kilfeather, said of Mr Finlan in an online tribute. “He was an excellent reporter and a superb writer.”
Mayo Minister of State Dara Calleary described the deceased as a “fantastic journalist” who was always “proud of the West”.
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