John O'Driscoll, who died recently, well before his time, was a well known and much liked figure in the Irish financial world. The financial history books will record that he was senior partner in Butler & Briscoe for five years, in which capacity he was also the Government Broker. They will also recall that his position in Butler and Briscoe came about in 1974 through a unique merger between firms based in Belfast and Dublin. This successful amalgamation benefited greatly from John's ability to retain his Northern connections while developing and steadily expanding his personal following in the Republic.
However, it is his personal qualities which will be remembered and sadly missed, successful though his business achievements were. He combined a Northerner's straight talking with a charm and sense of fun which endeared him to an ever widening circle of friends, North and South. Always good humoured, he had a zest for life which expressed itself in a range of mainly sporting pursuits which, if not always played with consummate skill, were invariably conducted with immense enthusiasm and competitiveness. He was too young to be an old-fashioned gentleman, but that's what he was.
Those who are lucky enough to have known him have lost a great friend. Their hearts go out to his wife, Gay, and his children, Lucy, Alison and Edmond, to whom he was totally devoted.
R.K.