Dermot James:DERMOT JAMES, who has died aged 81, was former company secretary of The Irish Times Ltd, and spent his entire working life with the company. In retirement he turned to writing and went on to write the first major history of the newspaper. From the Margins to the Centre: A History of 'The Irish Times'was published in 2008.
"All my life, I regretted that the Timeshad no archive," he said. "There was a couple of people saying, 'why don't you do it', and because I was held up on another book, I thought – I'll play around with it."
Writing the book was a labour of love. It was based on a painstaking trawl of available records and on personal recollections. It charts a chequered but always fascinating history, enlivened by a wealth of anecdotes and by vivid pen-portraits of the individuals who, as administrators or editors, steered the fortunes of the newspaper, and of the outstanding journalists, columnists and cartoonists who made it Ireland’s pre-eminent paper of record.
The author was especially proud that he succeeded in establishing the line of succession of the editors, staring with George Ferdinand Shaw and George Bomford Wheeler in 1859. Had he not worked so assiduously in digging out and preserving the details of the newspaper’s early decades it is quite possible that these might have been lost forever.
Dermot James was born in 1928, and grew up in Ranelagh, Dublin, where he lived at Hollybank Avenue. His father, a civil servant, later became an official of the Masonic Order.
Educated at Sandford national school and the High School, then located in Harcourt Street, James began his career behind the front counter of the Irish Timesadvertising department in 1946, accepting small ads. His future wife Gladys also worked at the newspaper. In addition to his work on classifieds, he produced maps and drawings for the newspaper, paving the way for the establishment of the graphic studio.
He served as assistant to the advertising manager and personal assistant to Irish Times chairman Major Thomas McDowell. Knowing him as he did, he was convinced that “the Major” never described former Irish Times editor Douglas Gageby as a “white nigger” as alleged by the British ambassador Sir Andrew Gilchrist. “He never used language like that,” he said.
He was appointed company secretary to The Irish Times Ltd in 1974 and, later, to The Irish Times Trust. Retired managing director at the newspaper Louis O’Neill described him as an “excellent administrator” who was “very helpful” to staff members. Former company secretary Iain Pratt paid tribute to his predecessor’s commitment to and pride in both the newspaper and the company.
After taking early retirement in 1989, Dermot James concentrated on writing. With Gladys he was a frequent visitor to Germany and Austria, and in February 1992 his news feature on how Dresden was struggling to repair the damage caused by wartime bombing was published in The Irish Times.
There followed articles on the legacy of the former East German leader Erich Honecker and on the emergence as a historical figure in her own right of Katharina von Bora, wife of Martin Luther.
He also contributed to An Irishman’s Diary. In June 1998 he recounted how a plane carrying a party of French girl guides to an international guide camp in Co Dublin crashed in bad weather on Djouce Mountain in Co Wicklow, and how more than half the survivors returned 52 years later to thank their rescuers.
The article was illustrated by a photograph he had taken of the wreckage in 1946.
His other books were John Hamilton of Donegal: This Recklessly Generous Landlord(1998) and The Gore Booths of Lissadell(2004) – described by Kevin Myers as a "minor classic of the Big House genre". He was co-editor of The Wicklow World of Elizabeth Smith 1840-1850(1996).
He was active in his local Church of Ireland parish and scout troop, the 33rd Dublin Sandford Scouts, of which he was a former leader and about which he wrote another book, The Purple Scarf. Proud of his Carlow origins, he and Gladys treasured the time they spent at their holiday home on the slopes of Mount Leinster. Gladys, his sister Joan and brother Vivian survive him.
Dermot Arthur James: born August 2nd, 1928; died May 2nd, 2010