Newspaper proprietor of the old school

Austin Lynch, who has died aged 77, was chairman of Ireland's largest remaining family-owned newspaper group, the Omagh-based North West of Ireland Printing and Publishing Company, which publishes papers in Tyrone, Donegal and Fermanagh.

As managing director and then chairman for many years, he oversaw the development of three new titles, new headquarters, and the transition to new technology. Under his stewardship, the company kept and developed its own printing press.

Lynch was an old-style employer, with a concern for the welfare of staff and a belief in treating them fairly. He was an old-style newspaperman too. For many years, he wrote editorials. He believed journalists had to learn on the job: one remembers doing her job interview in the morning and being sent to cover Strabane District Council in the evening.

Lynch’s life was more than newspapers and business. He was a talented pianist, who enjoyed playing jazz and classical music. He also played trumpet, trombone and clarinet and lent his musical expertise to many amateur dramatic productions.

Family tradition

The Lynch family was steeped in the newspaper business. Early in the last century, his grandfather had established the company’s first title, the

Ulster Herald

, in Omagh.

Lynch was born in that town in 1937, the eldest of the four children of Louis D Lynch and his wife, Ita (née Mullan). Louis D Lynch, as well as being managing director of the company, was a playwright and for a time a Nationalist Party senator.

Lynch was educated at the Christian Brothers primary and grammar schools in Omagh, and then at UCD, where he obtained an honours degree in English. He taught briefly before entering the family business and retained a great love of literature and the arts. As a young man he suffered from a serious speech impediment, but overcame it.

He is survived by his daughter, Veranne, son, Austin, sisters, Anita (Currie) and Norrie (Egan), brother, Gerard, and grandchildren.

He was predeceased by his wife, Veronica.