ALAN MOORE MONTGOMERY came from that generation of newspapermen and journalists steeped in the tradition of getting the story fast, accurate and to the point. He had little time for the Howery or the reflective in news reporting in his day and mine, newsprint was still in short supply from the effects of the second World War, and there was little space for a reporter to spread himself indulgently in comment in the news columns.
His own writing style was sparse and pithy, but this didn't mean that he inhibited his young reporters from spreading themselves a little in "specials", as news features were called in those days of the 1940s and 1950s. He was the first of the news editors on an Irish national daily who allowed - no, encouraged his young reporters to be nosy, investigative, curious about news and current events. Monty, as he was universally known, was an indulgent man to work for; easy going, social almost to a fault, generous and gregarious. To be on the news staff of the Irish Times when he was Chief Reporter was to be envied by reporters from the other dailies, because he was known to give many a youngster a chance at The Big Story.
He took his journalism seriously and could tap out the short, snappy sentences to encompass his dictat of "who when where holy and why" with a startling rapidity on his battered Royal. He and the great Bertie Smyllie and Alec Newman were the authors of a remarkable Irish Times style book that became the bible of every reporter and sub editor on the paper and was much sought after by others. I haven't seen a copy of it for years, though I have, alas, seen its tenets broken time and time again in The Irish Times of today. Terms like "the near future"(soon) and words like "commenced" (began) would get you a sharp rebuke.
If he was the first of the great news editors of the paper, he was not the greatest of editors; nor, indeed, was he the best player of office politics. His news sense was excellent; his editorial judgment on larger issues was not always as accurate. He found the Editor's chair an uncomfortable throne, far removed from the comradely burly burly of the newsroom. He was glad to escape into the business world of Arthur Guinness Son and Co as its public relations director in the mid 1960s. The transition from poacher to gamekeeper he managed easily enough, and he was always a strong upholder of the firm's virtues, wrathfully scarifying any journalist unfortunate enough to be critical of Uncle Arthur.
Alan Montgomery was a good friend, a good newsman. a fond father to Wyn and Mel. He never forgot his Northern heritage and while he was not a religious man, he had no difficulty in upholding the stern precepts of Ulster Protestantism. It was cruel on his friends and to Berteen, his wife, to see him lobbed of mobility and memory by illness.
Sadly, his death marks the passing of an era in this newspaper. He was the last executive from the days of the great R M Smyllie.