Tullamore and Offaly mourn the death of leading business man John Flanagan

The death has taken place of businessman, former politician and community champion, John Flanagan.

In his early 90s, John had a long and illustrious career and made a huge impact on his native Tullamore in the business and political fields.

John was born in 1931 into a small farming family in Cappincur and received his primary education at the Meelaghans N.S.

Like the majority of people at the time his schooling ceased at the tender age of 13 when he began working for local farmers.

Aged 15, he secured a position with his uncle, John Colgan, a small builder.

“That job started me on my path in the construction business. I liked it so much I decided to stay with it,” recalled John in 2017 when he was the recipient of the Offaly Person of the Year award.

A year later he began his plastering apprenticeship with contractors, Duffy & Heffernan in Tullamore and when he qualified he took the brave decision of setting up on his own.

The 1950s and 1960s were a lean period in construction but luck knocked on his door when he secured a maintenance contract for the Salts Ireland factory in Kilruttin. The contract led to further work at connected firms in Mountmellick, Chapelizod and on the Longmile road in Dublin.

As the 1960s rolled on his firm completed many local authority housing schemes, most notably Kearney Park and Arden View in Tullamore and Beechmount Park in Mucklagh.

The 1970s brought contracts from further afield such as AT Cross in Ballinasloe, Turin church outside Mullingar and the construction of a number of buildings for the Midland Health Board and the IDA throughout the region.

If he hadn't enough on his plate in the 1970s he became deeply involved in the campaign to save Tullamore General Hospital when it was threatened with downgrading. From this campaign Tullamore Chamber of Commerce was established in 1977 and John Flanagan served as its first President.

Following the destruction of the Church of the Assumption by fire in 1982, his firm was successful in securing the contract for its reconstruction. The work took over 22 months to complete and John considered it the most challenging but rewarding project of his long career.

At the same time he also developed a number of small business units in the Tanyard in Tullamore and in 1985 he purchased the Salts Ireland factory, now the Kilcruttin centre.

He was elected to Offaly County Council as a Fianna Fail representative in the mid 1980s and served as a member of Tullamore Urban District Council and the Midland Health Board as well. At the end of his political carer he was the longest serving member of Offaly County Council.

His interest in construction diversified into property development and his firm built a number of housing schemes including Glenfircal, Roselawn, Clonminch Wood and Ballin Ri in Tullamore as well as projects in Roscrea, Nenagh, Carlow, Kildare, Portlaoise, Mullingar and Kilkenny.

He was also instrumental in the development of a number of other successful companies including Banagher Concrete and Glenwood in Tullamore.

John made a foray into he world of media in the early 1990s and was one of the founding directors of Midlands 103 and insisted its headquarters should be based in Tullamore.

For many years he saw the need for a major hotel in Tullamore and his dream became a reality in November 1997 with the official opening of the Tullamore Court Hotel, developed by his firm, by then Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern.

Throughout his business career, John was proud of the good relations he had with those who worked with him.

He maintained a lifelong commitment to community groups from his involvement as a young man with GAA clubs in Cappincur and Tullamore to a seldom mentioned period as a valued member of St Colmcille's Pipe Band. He was a key promoter of St Mary's Youth and Community Centre.

His main social outlet was golf and he was a playing member of Tullamore Golf Club for many years, serving as Club Captain in 1979.

Throughout his career he was ably supported by his late wife, Kitty, and family of four girls and two boys. His sons, John and Tony remain deeply involved in the family business.