THE head of the electronics firm Glen Dimplex, Mr Martin Naughton, has donated £1 million to the building fund of Trinity College Dublin.
Mr Naughton, the group executive chairman of Glen Dimplex, has been a member of the Trinity Foundation, the college's fund-raising body for about three years.
In 1993 he was estimated to be worth £119 million, making him one of Ireland's richest businessmen.
At a ceremony in the Provost's House in TCD yesterday Mr Naughton said he admired the Provost, Dr Tom Mitchell, and his fund-raising efforts on behalf of the college. He said last year the Naughton family trust had been set up to make annual donations. In that year it gave £500,000 towards a public park in Dundalk. His father had been a Garda sergeant in the town.
Mr Naughton said his own education began some 50 years ago at the De La Salle school in Dundalk. Of the 140 boys who started with him only 12 of them made it to Inter Cert and only eight did their Leaving Cert.
Dr Mitchell called the donation "a very significant and important gift for us". It would go towards the "largest extension and refurbishment of the buildings of this campus in about 300 years".
And by the year 2000 Trinity should be able to house an extra 1,000 students.
It is understood that Mr Naughton has not asked for any of the building work to be named after him or his company.
The Minister for Finance, Mr Quinn, who also attended the ceremony, called the gesture a "splendid donation". Mr Quinn's brother, Lochlann, is Mr Naughton's long-standing business partner.
Mr Quinn said education was "the best pension plan" for everyone. And under the public/private funding arrangements set up by his Department the State would match private funds with exchequer funding.
Trinity's £50 million building programme is funded with £21 million from the State.
The development of a science block at the east end of the college is under way, and the next step will be a new library building.