David Allen, who died on February 6th, was for many years the general manager of the Dublin Evening Mail. Newspapers were in his blood. He was born in Belfast in 1907 to Robert and Mary Allen. His father worked with the Belfast Telegraph. David Allen began his working life in the paper's print shop. Later he transferred to its advertising department.
He moved to Dublin in 1937 to work in the advertising department of the Dublin Evening Mail. The job involved cycling around Dublin, selling advertising to clients.
He married Margaret Frances (Pearl) Macwilliam at Abbey Presbyterian Church in Parnell Square, Dublin in 1939.
In the 1950s he became the general manager - in effect, he was the man who ran the Mail. He is remembered as being a pleasant, quiet and retiring man who worked long hours. Those who worked under him recall a good manager who let them get on with their work.
When a fire struck The Irish Times in 1951 it was he who arranged for the newspaper to be printed on the presses of the Mail in Parliament Street. He was later presented with a gold watch by The Irish Times in recognition of his help. But there was another side to him too, far removed from the sometimes brash newspaper world. He was a keen choir member with a light tenor voice who took part in many performances of Handel's Messiah and other oratorios.
A sportsman, he enjoyed a game of golf at Rathfarnham. He was a member of Abbey Presbyterian Church.
For many years "Herald and Mail" were the traditional cries of newspaper sellers on the capital's streets. Both had been features of Irish (though in the case of the Mail, Dublin) life since the previous century. But 1954 brought new, and deadly, competition for the Mail in the form of the Evening Press.
Both the editorial content of the Evening Press and its ability to attract small advertisements away from the Mail meant that the latter was soon in difficulties.
It was bought by The Irish Times in 1960 and closed in 1962 after 139 years of publication. Following the takeover, David Allen went to manage the London office of the Dublin Evening Mail. David Allen is survived by his three children Sheelagh, Brian and Terry.
David Allen: born 1907; died February, 2000