Hugo Flinn:HUGO FLINN, who has died aged 88, was a civil engineer who spent much of his career in Africa. He was also a committed republican and Christian – two sets of beliefs that were the impetus behind his philanthropic work in Nigeria and cross-community initiatives in Ireland.
He went to University College Cork where he excelled in sport, particularly in rugby and boxing. He graduated in 1944 with a degree in civil engineering and pitched his tent initially in Athlone, where he worked in land drainage.
Branching out on his own in the late 1940s, he founded Public Works, which became one of the largest civil engineering companies in Ireland. In 1974, he expanded into Nigeria. Leading the enterprise, Hugo spent more than 25 years there. Public Works soon became one of the biggest civil engineering companies in Nigeria.
Today PW has diversified into mining and marine servicing. It has a presence in countries such as Ghana and Tanzania.
Hugh V Flinn lived a life of frugal comfort and made use of his money very often to better the lives of many. Throughout the Federation of Nigeria, he left schools, hospitals, clinics, churches, priests’ houses and convents.
His friendship with missionaries and development workers and his readiness to come to their aid made many of their lives easier.
He was rigid in his belief that Christianity was a great force for good in the world and it influenced every aspect of his life. He had unbounded admiration for Pope John Paul II and met him when the pontiff visited Nigeria in 1997.
His company prepared the infrastructure for the crowds who came to Abuja for the papal Mass.
When the clerical abuse scandals emerged in the 1990s, he was outraged but he had seen enough of the good side of the church to know that there was another story.
When it was unpopular to do so, he engaged with members of the Orange Order and, in the early 1970s, met Ian Paisley. He made a conscious effort to recruit Protestants and went into strong loyalist areas in Portadown and east Belfast to employ workers.
He was predeceased by his son Brian, in 1991, and his brother, Donal, who was a director of the Irish Press. He is survived by his wife, Vivienne, his daughters Deirdre and Fiona, his sons Michael and Donal, as well as grandchildren, his extended family and a huge circle of friends.
Hugh Flinn: born 1922; died April 15th, 2010.