‘Sunday World’ founder was ‘a man of style’ who blazed a trail in industry

‘SUNDAY World’ founder Gerry McGuinness’s funeral has been told that he “dreamed dreams that nobody else would dream and made them realities”. This was according to Fr Brian D’Arcy who officiated at the service for Mr McGuinness, his friend of 45 years, at the Church of the Sacred Heart in Donnybrook yesterday. Mr McGuinness passed away at the Mater Private on Tuesday. Fr D’Arcy referred to the “generosity and hospitality” of the 79-year-old, who was in his 30s when he launched the ‘Sunday World’ in 1973 with the late Hugh McLaughlin. He told how, while chatting with the family in advance of the funeral Mass, it was very difficult to find a single word that described Gerry, but one word that had cropped up was “style”, because he was a man of style. “He liked style, he did things in style,” he said. In the course of his career, during the 1960s Mr McGuinness was involved in cinema and then showbusiness. He then went into publishing, and Fr D’Arcy said he effectively founded “an industry that gave enormous employment and enormous happiness to a great deal of people”. “Gerry in his latter years had an enormous cross to carry, the cross of illness,” Fr D’Arcy added. But he said that he had borne his illness with great dignity. Fr D’Arcy said Mr McGuinness had “faith in abundance” and his first duty was as a father. The mourners were led yesterday by Mr McGuinness’s beloved Heather, children Gerry, Mark, Kerri, Gary and David, as well as his sisters Eileen, Christine and Marie. His five children paid their own moving tribute to their “trailblazer” dad, who played golf with James Bond star Sean Connery. Daughter Kerri said that “reading the papers over long breakfasts together will always be one of my most treasured moments”. Former colleagues of Mr McGuinness were also among the large crowd who mourned the entrepreneur’s passing. They included ‘Sunday World’ editor Colm MacGinty, showbiz editor Eddie Rowley and columnist Paddy Murray, Colin McClelland, Des Egan, Sean Boyne, author Cathy Kelly, Micheline McCormack and photographer Val Sheenan.