Tales of Turner

Fellow cartoonists and subjects of Turner have their say

Pat Rabbitte

Labour TD and Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources

Subject of Turner’s cartoons

“Martyn Turner can consistently capture in a single cartoon the essence of what it takes pages of newsprint to communicate. He usually has a unique angle that is discomfiting and powerful. He has a devastating ability to puncture pomposity and expose hypocrisy.

“As a politician, you would rather not be the subject of his treatment, because he can make connections that seem so obvious once they’re done.

“I remember with amusement a particular cartoon he did coming up to the 1997 election after I had imposed a price cap on the price of a pint. The taoiseach at the time, John Bruton, wasn’t too pleased, but closer to election time he thought it was a marvellous idea. Martyn Turner did a cartoon capturing the psychosis that takes over politicians as it comes closer to election time. I have that cartoon hanging in my office.

"His is a unique talent that is not only important to The Irish Timesbut to public life."

Dennis Kennedy

A former assistant editor of ‘The Irish Times’, who lives in Belfast

Commissioned Turner’s early cartoons

"Martyn started at Fortnightmagazine, where he did the cartoons. He was living in the North and started contributing cartoons to The Irish Times. When Fergus Pyle was appointed editor, and I was assistant editor, I suggested we should take Martyn Turner on full-time as a cartoonist.

“Martyn had a goat called Eric and when he moved south and bought a cottage outside Naas, Eric came with him, and two red setters. It was at that point that he became a full-time cartoonist, submitting a daily cartoon. As far as I remember, the cartoon had to be put on the bus at Naas every day and collected in Dublin.

“Any cartoonist has an enormous problem being witty five days a week, but Martyn manages it. A newspaper has to have a personality, and a very prominent, well-displayed cartoon is a very important part of that personality. He adds greatly to the individuality of the paper. He’s genuinely very political. He should upset half the people as well as amusing half the people, and he does that.”

Michael McDowell

Former leader of the Progressive Democrats

Subject of Turner’s cartoons

“Whenever Martyn Turner produced anything to do with me, my wife Niamh used to ask to buy them from him. We have five or six of them. They’re in the basement. There has to be an element of fun in politics, and it’s better to have a point made against you in satire than in negative grinding text, because a picture is worth 1,000 words. I’ve had many a good laugh at Martyn’s cartoons, and I’ve always liked looking out for the worm and the bird in the corner

“Martyn should keep going. I think he’s great. Probably because he’s not invited on TV to defend his position as a journalist, it gives him more freedom. He wisely keeps his privacy. He’s not aware of how much he’s appreciated.”

Jeff Danziger

New York Times syndicate

Fellow cartoonist

“Well, let’s see . . . Martyn has been a cartoonist for many years and has brought joy into the heart of many an old lady sitting home with her mangy cat, out of gin, and looking for some reassurance that her bitter, calcified views of the filthy politics of the nation, and, come to that, of mankind in general, are shared, and even intensified by someone else on the planet.

“No one draws better than he, especially lowering rain clouds – although this may be some computer trick, or background effect he stole from El Greco. Now, El Greco, there was an artist . . . oh, yes.

“Um . . . what was the question? Do most of the ideas come from his wife? I heard that, too.”

Chris Austin

Director of operations at the Shelbourne Hotel, Dublin

Hotel has a Martyn Turner Room

“The Shelbourne’s Martyn Turner Room is a private dining room in the Saddle Room restaurant, and is one of the most requested dining areas in the hotel. When we reopened after refurbishment, our general manager at the time, Liam Doyle, worked very closely with Martyn to create the room, which is adorned with many of his famous cartoons.

“Martyn produced a calendar for us in 2008 featuring caricatures of some of our staff and areas of the hotel. We still use one of his works (Santa and his reindeer being breathalysed outside the hotel in the snow) on our Christmas card every year. We also give print copies of his cartoons as corporate gifts.

“Martyn has always been closely associated with the hotel, and we’re very proud of the connection.”

Dave Brown

Cartoonist at the London Independent

Fellow cartoonist

“As a cartoonist I look up to Martyn Turner, most cartoonists look up to Martyn; he is undoubtedly the tallest cartoonist I know.

“I see Martyn’s cartoons every day. I have to, he emails them to me. Often, they pop into my inbox around lunchtime, which can be very annoying if I’m still struggling to come up with my own idea for the day. I would steal his ideas, but one, I often have no idea what his cartoons are about, and two, he’s much bigger than me.

"While I may not always be au faitwith the intricacies of Irish politics, I can always be appreciate Martyn's drawing. His cartoons have a deceptive simplicity to them, a loose, easy line. He may tell you that this apparent effortlessness in fact takes hours of honing, but I'd like to reveal the truth. I'd like to tell you it's simply a way for him to finish work sooner and spend more time on the golf course, but I won't . . . as I may have mentioned, he's very much bigger than me."