Bushmills chief who began running tours of distillery
DR Bill Mccourt, who died on Sunday, was a popular and highly-regarded business figure in Northern Ireland. He was managing director of the Old Bushmills Distillery Ltd from 1976 to 1992, founder of the Northern Ireland branch of the Institute of Management Services, and chairman of the local CBI. He was 90.
He was born in New York, and came to Northern Ireland with his family, aged nine. He was educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution, but following German air raids on Belfast in 1941 he was evacuated to family friends in Bessbrook in South
Armagh. He became a boarder at the Royal School Dungannon from September 1941, returning to ‘Inst’ two years later, and finishing his formal education at Belfast Tech.
His first job was with the York Street Flax Spinning Company, and he later moved to the textile company Lindustries, as head of industrial engineering. In 1966 he joined Rolls-royce in Belfast as head of administration, helping to establish the factory and later becoming general manager.
Following the closure of the plant he became managing director of Old Bushmills, and guided the company through continuous expansion, winning the Queen’s Award for Export in 1986 and 1991. He also initiated tours which made the distillery a top tourist attraction, and commissioned a book about its history titled Spirit of the Age.
He played a significant role in the business community, not only with the Institute of Management Services, but as a committee member of the British Institute of Management and the Belfast Chamber of Commerce, and as a council member and chairman of the local CBI in 1990 and 1991.
He was on the board of the NI Economic Council and a member of the Council of the University of Ulster which awarded him an honorary DSC in 1989.
He was also on the regional committee of the National Trust, and a past-president of the NI Industrial Development Board Partnership.
Long-term friend Roy Bailie, chairman of the Bailie Group and a former chairman of the NI Tourist Board and the local CBI, said: “I knew Bill in a business and personal capacity.
“As chair of CBI he played a major role in setting up the Joint Business Council of Ireland, a first in North-south business co-operation.
“He was always good company and in his business life he was thoughtful, decisive and wise. He was a gentle man and also a gentleman. He will be missed by all who had the good fortune to know him.”
His daughter Dee said: “Dad was a great reader, and he loved sport. He coached and played tennis and squash, and he was an avid rugby fan. His final evening was spent watching Ulster beat Munster on television, which we like to think made him happy. He loved to travel and he was a keen photographer. Dad was loving, generous, full of wisdom and good judgment, but never judgmental. We adored him and he us.”
Dr Mccourt is survived by his widow Joan, a former teacher and Irish hockey international, his daughter Dee, son Roger and grandchildren Daniel, Ravi and Nancy.