Kevin James Barry, who died on September 3rd, aged 68, was a director of the British building company, Wimpey, from 1979 to 1983, and deputy chairman and chief executive of Brown & Root Wimpey Highlands Fabricators. In these roles he was a key figure in the development of the North Sea oil industry.
He was born in Cork on September 16th, 1930, the eldest child of a family of five whose father was a prominent leader in the Irish dairy industry. He was educated in civil engineering at University College Dublin, where he excelled at rowing. He stroked several successful college crews, including the senior eight which dead-heated with TCD in the Gannon Cup in 1950. In 1952, he joined the construction company, George Wimpey, beginning a career which would take him to the Middle East, West Africa, southern Africa, the West Indies, South America and Britain. In his early years with Wimpey, he worked on the large oil terminal in Aden before moving to Peru, where he lived for eight years, working initially on the Paita harbour works, then as manager for Peru.
He returned to Britain in 1971 with a reputation for obtaining and managing major contracts. His first job was as senior project manager for the construction of the largest graving dock in Europe with its fabrication yard at Nigg Bay in Scotland. The site initially occupied 30 acres of sand dunes, which had to be reclaimed to get the job off the ground - when he retired in 1988, it covered 170 acres.
On completion of the yard's construction, he returned to Wimpey's head office in London where he was responsible for many major oil and marine-related projects.
In 1974, he went back to Highlands Fabricators at Nigg to supervise the fabrication and construction of the yard's second Forties platform. This was followed by two contracts for Chevron and one for Shell, both for the North Sea.
The dream of British offshore oil was taking a step nearer reality, with the project which would bring oil ashore from four platforms placed in the Forties Field in the North Sea.
In 1979, Kevin Barry was appointed to the board of Wimpey with responsibility for expanding the company's activities in the Caribbean, West Africa and southern Africa.
But it was his abilities and knowledge of the North Sea oil industry that persuaded many oil company clients in 1983 to ask Wimpey to release him from his place on its board to run Highlands Fabricators. His appointment as deputy chairman and chief executive of Highlands Fabricators was agreed and he returned to Nigg in Scotland, the largest and most flexible yard in Europe, for the third time.
However, he arrived during an industrial dispute, and his considerable abilities to reach a settlement were quickly in demand. He soon established a rapport with the workforce and the unions as a man who could be trusted, who was fair, but not a pushover. His fine sense of humour often diverted what could have become a serious problem into a minor issue.
His team won a contract for building a number of platforms for North Sea oil against strong competition. He was awarded the Queen's Silver Jubilee Medal in 1977 for his contribution to North Sea oil development. He was appointed OBE in 1989.
While his association with rowing had ceased after going to work abroad, in the early 1970s he renewed his interest with his customary enthusiasm and energy. He was a strong supporter of the Irish crews which competed at Henley Regatta. He acted as an ambassador for Irish rowing in Britain, providing both material and moral support for the visiting crews. In 1990 he stroked a UCD crew in an exhibition row at Trinity Regatta, Dublin.
Kevin Barry is survived by his wife Liz, (nee Harrington), whom he married in 1961, and their two sons, David and Moylan.
Kevin Barry: born 1930; died September, 1999