THERE CAN be “few Irish people, of his generation or of any other generation, who have contributed as much to improving the lives of so much of humanity”, said Concern Worldwide chief executive Tom Arnold yesterday of the late Fr Aengus Finucane.
Fr Finucane (77) died yesterday at the Spiritan centre in Kimmage, Dublin, following a short illness.
Taoiseach Brian Cowen described Fr Finucane as “a great humanitarian” who “will be remembered as a selfless and brave man who travelled to many of the world’s most dangerous places to help the poor”. Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin and Minister of State for Overseas Development Peter Power said Fr Finucane was “a tireless force for good across the globe”.
Fine Gael spokesman on foreign affairs Billy Timmins said Fr Finucane’s death “marks the passing of one of the giants of Irish overseas volunteerism”.
Born in Limerick in 1932, Fr Finucane joined the Holy Ghost Fathers (Spiritans) in 1949. Ordained in 1958, he was assigned to Nigeria in 1960. He was parish priest at Biafra’s Uli in 1968 as the Nigeria/Biafra war took place. In dangerous conditions, he and his co-workers unloaded and distributed up to 20 relief flights every night. He appealed to the Irish people for help and Concern was born. In 1972, he went to Bangladesh as Concern’s field director. In 1979, he set up Concern’s operation for refugees on the Thai/Kampuchea border. He moved to Uganda in 1980 to set up a famine response programme.
In 1981, he was appointed chief executive of Concern Worldwide. On retiring from that post in 1997, he became honorary president of Concern Worldwide USA. In 2005, he and his brother Fr Jack were awarded the freedom of Limerick city.