A leading light in journalism and so much more besides

SEAMUS Mcconville is rightfully remembered and honoured as a great journalist, but he could equally be remembered as a great mentor and a source of sage and balanced counsel when it was most needed.

As a journalist, Seamus was held in the highest regard throughout the county and particularly in The Kerryman where he was a towering figure for a great many years.

As editor for most of the 1970s and ’80s, he played a central part in developing The Kerryman as a leader in provincial journalism. That achievement, earned by dint of pure hard work and unwavering commitment to the highest standards, was recognised not just in Kerry but throughout the country.

He was an editor who led from the front, setting a high standard for others to follow, by virtue of his own inherent and unfailing sense of fairness and balance, along with a massive work ethic and determination which earned him the respect and loyalty of his colleagues and of the community at large.

He was a powerful advocate for Kerry and, although he wasn’t from the county, he had such a passion for his adopted home that it always seemed it was where he had been born and bred.

Seamus also provided a strong voice for the county when we were very much on the periphery of Ireland and Europe in the bleak times of the ’70s and ’80s.

He was very conscious of the need to develop agriculture, fishing, tourism and industry to provide jobs at a time when, as now, the county was being bled dry by emigration. He also maintained strong links through The Kerryman with the Kerry diaspora, particularly in England and the United States, which was very important in the days before cheap air travel and the various social media made it easier for emigrants to stay in touch with their home place.

Following his retirement in the early ’90s he continued writing a weekly ‘ My Town’ column in the Tralee edition of The Kerryman. In many ways what he wrote in those pages typified the man – warmhearted, encouraging and witty, yet incisive and at all times he never shirked from speaking out strongly when he felt that was necessary.

When I first arrived in The Kerryman, fresh out of college as a work experience student in 1988, he had already resigned as editor, yet it was immediately apparent that Seamus was somebody special who stood, literally and figuratively, head and shoulders above others.

He was held in the highest, at times almost reverential, esteem by his colleagues. But this by no means made him a remote figure. Instead he would confound the image by taking time to encourage and instruct and like the most gifted of teachers, always with the gentle touch that made you want to exceed your ability.

In more recent years, as editor myself, I enjoyed the freedom and privilege of being able to call on his advice, experience and wisdom. He would always make himself available and gave of his time freely and generously to offer a balanced, calm and wise voice of reason in times of need. It would be a hard debt to repay, but for all he gave to others there was never the sense that any debt existed.

Seamus will be missed and that goes without saying, but we shouldn’t think of his passing as a loss, instead those of us who were fortunate to have known him will remember the rich legacy he has left behind.