Bill Murdoch:BILL MURDOCH, who died aged 72 on April 16th, was one of the best-regarded financial journalists of his generation. He came into financial journalism when it was still in its infancy and, as business editor of The Irish Times, he established a reputation for thoroughness and accuracy which raised standards in his own pages and in those of rival publications.
Bill Murdoch was born in Cavan town on March 1st, 1936, the second child of Archie and Gretta Murdoch. His father was an employee of the Provincial Bank of Ireland (later to become part of AIB) and the family subsequently moved to Kilkee, Killaloo and Carrick-on-Shannon as his father climbed the promotional ladder to manager. Bill's principal schooling was with the Jesuits in Crescent College, Limerick. He had three siblings, Hilary, Henry and Laurence.
Having an absorbing interest in travel, spurred on perhaps by weekly trips to the cinema in Killaloo, Murdoch decided to complete a radio officer course in Cork after which he worked for British merchant navy vessels and travelled throughout the world.
At the age of 25, he returned to Ireland and, with money saved, he put himself through the B Comm in UCD, qualifying in 1964.
He then moved to London where he worked as an investment analyst for a stockbroking firm.
After four years in London he decided to return to Dublin, and secured a position as a financial reporter with The Irish Times. The business editor at the time, Valentine Lamb, was only the third to hold the post (in succession to Nicolas Leonard and Hugh O'Neill) and financial reporting still had to gain acceptance, not from the readers of the newspaper but from the financial and business community, who regarded it with suspicion bordering on hostility.
Murdoch left the newspaper for a brief period. He went into investment and then in 1975 became the founding editor of Irish Business, which was established by Kevin Kelly.
He returned to the newspaper and in 1978 was appointed business editor in succession to the late Richard Keatinge.
As business editor, he was precise, demanding in a good-natured way, and very competitive. He had good contacts in the business community which appreciated that while he may write stories that they wished he would not write, he would be fair and accurate at all times.
He was particularly good at financial analysis and regularly expressed views at odds with those of the company in question, but which turned out to be correct.
He was always impeccably dressed, a person who liked good food and wines but wisely decided, in the main, not to make friendships with those that he would be writing about. One exception was the late Noel Griffin of Waterford Glass.
Very much an outdoors man, Murdoch was a keen fisherman and an accomplished shot. He was particularly fond of cooking and gardening and, in retirement, discovered the wonders of digital photography which, being adept at computer technology, did not faze him in the least.
He married Bernadette Patchell in November 1969 in the University Church on Dublin's Stephen's Green, where his parents had married 36 years previously.
He took ill last year and spent a considerable time in hospital while tests were carried out. Eventually, he was diagnosed with the rare disease vasculitis. Last Christmas, as his extended family gathered for his and Bernadette's traditional dinner, he expressed confidence that it had been caught in time, but his relative health proved to be just a remission.
He is survived by Bernadette.
William Archibald Murdoch: born March 1st, 1936; died April 16th, 2008