William Henry Walsh, who died on October 28th, aged 84, was the driving force behind the foundation of Kilkenny Design Workshops. The influence of his work can be seen all over Ireland today.
His contribution to Irish design - and thus to the competitiveness of Irish products - can be traced back to the 1950s when he was general manager of Coras Trachtala (The Irish Export Board).
He saw that poor design was an enormous handicap for Irish goods in the export markets. To rectify the situation, he brought a team of Scandinavian designers to Ireland to produce a report on the subject.
Their report, Design in Ireland: Report of the Scandinavian De- sign Group in Ireland was published in 1962. It was searingly critical of Irish design.
He took the report as an opportunity to get Government support (with the backing, from the Cabinet of Mr Lynch) for the foundation of a centre of excellence which became Kilkenny Design Workshops (KDW). He brought designers and craftsmen from Scandinavia, England, France and elsewhere to work with Irish designers and apprentices.
His aim, and that of KDW, was to produce good design which could be used by Irish industry. Many graduates of the National College of Art and Design - which recently conferred an honorary award on him - obtained their first practical training at Kilkenny.
He summed up his views on design in a speech at the opening of an exhibition in Dublin in 1964 when he said that a good designer was as necessary to many businesses as an accountant or a sales director.
"We are coming out of a phase in which it was customary for industry to regard designers as impractical theorists and for designers to think of industrialists as money grubbers.
"A happier understanding is in sight and we seem to be at least on the road towards the fruitful relationship between design and industry which has served some other countries so well."
By the time the workshops closed in 1983, Irish design had been transformed, owing much of that transformation to his vision.
He was born on February 6th, 1915, in Nenagh, Co Tipperary to Richard and Rebecca (nee Thompson) Walsh. His mother died when he was 10.
His father, who worked for the Department of Posts and Telegraphs died when he was 18, leaving him and three younger sisters.
He lived for much of his youth in Mallow, Co Cork. He was educated at Kilkenny College and Mountjoy (now Mount Temple Comprehensive) in Mountjoy Square, Dublin.
He left school at 16 and worked for McKearns Motors, the Evening Mail and The Irish Times, before the second World War. He reviewed plays for the Evening Mail, and worked for the advertising department of The Irish Times, but also wrote pieces, including an occasional Irishman's Diary.
He was later a partner in businesses exporting leather goods, toys and shamrocks.
It was in Coras Trachtala, however, where he was to spend most of his career.
He was a frequent visitor to the theatre in which he took a deep interest (indeed, he told a friend he read Shakespeare every morning during his breakfast). He was also very interested in classical music, especially chamber music, and in literature.
During his retirement he liked to go fishing at Waterville, Co Kerry and divided his time between Waterville and Blackrock, Co Dublin.
A passionate advocate of fair play and justice for Travellers and other groups, he was a frequent letter writer to The Irish Times on these issues.