2021-05-28 10:57:00 wrote:

Having a journalist as a dad in the 1980s for me meant free tickets to Ireland matches and the family pass to Funderland but his work had an immense impact. I will come to that in a moment. He lived to 89 years of age. He had great patience and is remembered fondly by many and sorely missed by his family including my brothers Barry, Des and sisters Geraldine, Cathy and Mary and grandchildren. Life could have been over for him aged 18 years when he went into the TB hospital but he lived long. He loved his sport, fishing, dogs, golf and loved a good story whether telling, listening or writing. He reported on all the big domestic stories from the 1950s through to the 1990s. He initially started with Ballinasloe soccer notes and local stories for the Midland Tribune before landing his first job with the Munster Tribune, before moving onto the Irish Press and Evening Herald and Independent. As well as the domestic stories, he also was sent to report on many of the big stories of the period from Second Vatican, the 6 Day War to the war in Biafra and the Ethiopian famines. He always found an Irish angle whether with Irish born general in the 6 day war in Israel 1967, 'Igbo Cork born rebel' or even better 'Fairview mum stranded in Biafra'. His work led to the establishment of the Herald Biafra Fund which contributed to Africa Concern, which was set up with missionaries to help alleviate the impact of war and starvation. It is reckoned this work helped save 1m lives. Below is an extract from a booklet produced for his 80th birthday. From Fr Tony Byrne - Des shouted at Fr Nolan “Father let’s get our arses to hell out of here before we are destroyed”. Des and Fr Nolan together with Des’s camera man ran for cover. It was a lucky escape from death. The second story that comes to my mind is about the journey Des and his camera man travelled to Uli airstrip to catch one of our flights to Sao Tome. He travelled with a Holy Ghost priest from Cork called Fr Tim Kelly (RIP). Des and his camera man were nervous because the Russian Mig jets often bombed and rocketed the roads leading to Uli airstrip. Fr Tim tried to reassure Des and his camera man that they would be OK. “Don’t worry lads” said Fr Tim in his strong Cork accent. “This is only a mickey mouse war”. When they arrived at Uli airstrip the Mig jets started bombing the airstrip. It was a horrific air raid. Fr Tim jumped out of the car, into a ditch for cover. Des and his camera man jumped after him into another ditch just behind Fr Tim. Des shouted to Fr Tim, “Jesus, Father are you sure that this is a mickey- mouse war?” Des helped to set up the Evening Herald Biafra fund which raised substantial sums of money for the airlift to Biafra. I would like to pay tribute to Des as an outstanding professional journalist who had exceptional courage, compassion and dedication. He risked his life so that his readers would be acutely aware of the millions of children at risk in Biafra. Des was an analytical journalist who understood that the root cause of the war was oil. Biafra had copious suppliers of oil. At this time the big powers of UK, France and USA feared that the availability of global oil supplies were terminating. The children of Biafra and the civilian population were sacrificed on the altar of oil'. Booklet produced for his 80th birthday - which includes Fr Tony's full tribute https://t.co/9IepmMqNob?amp=1 Podcast interview to mark the 50th Anniversary of Concern https://www.concern.net/.../new-podcast-recalls-how... Video features visit of Irish based Biafrans to my dad in 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w16pDVxceUE