John McFadden died at University College Hospital in Galway on December 31st. He was 67 years old. On December 4th he had been hospitalised with lung complications and later suffered a stroke.
John hailed from the shadow of Mount Errigal, in the heart of the Gaeltacht, at Dunlewey, Gweedore, Co Donegal. Born in 1933, he joined the Garda Siochana in 1953 and in 1957 he joined the field service of the United Nations. His first assignment was in Jerusalem.
I first met John at El Kantara, on the Suez Canal, following the Israeli withdrawal from Sinai. At the time we were in the process of moving the headquarters of the UN Emergency Force from El Ballah to Gaza. John was then "our man in Tel Aviv", as he had been assigned to the liaison office there. In a career of over 30 years it was my good fortune to have again crossed paths with John on several assignments. His varied from Afganistan to Kenya to Bangladesh to Bosnia to Cyprus to Cambodia and, of course, to Lebanon, Egypt and the Middle Eastern area.
No matter where he was stationed, John invariably found the ways and the means to engage in his favourite pastimes. He subscribed to the old adage: "When accounting for one's days, time spent fishing and hunting is not included." I think John would like to add golf to that. As late as November he won a golf tournament.
I recall meeting him at Damascus airport after his assignment to Afganistan in 1990 and I was quite shocked at the toll that assignment had taken on his health. I was not, therefore, surprised when he opted to take early retirement. I later learned that on two separate occasions the helicopter in which he was travelling in Afganistan was hit by ground fire. Needless to say, John decided that enough was enough. It is therefore a tribute to his resilience that after a break of a couple of years, fishing shooting, playing golf and bridge, he answered the call when the United Nations urgently needed experienced staff in Cambodia and again when the demand came for Bosnia.
John was a gentle, sympathetic man with endless patience. If he had nothing good to say, he said nothing. He was particularly effective in his relations with local authorities and his skills in this regard helped grease the skids for many difficult administrative processes in a variety of diverse societies and environments. He was devoted to his loving wife, Anne, and he took great pride in the achievements of his children: Caroline, Clare, Paul and Shane. Their education and their well-being were his great preoccupation. They are a fitting legacy to a very fine man. To them we extend our deepest sympathies.
John was proud of his origins and his roots in Donegal. His first language was Gaelic and he kept in constant touch with his large extended family. On some of those trips he would call on me in Mayo and for a few hours we would indulge ourselves again behind two nice dogs on the slopes of Slieve Cairn. The absence of game in the bag would be explained by the poor quality of the ammunition nowadays. Our last meeting was at the staff reunion on October 24th, UN Day, in Dublin and we agreed to meet for a hunt after the Christmas holidays. But it was not to be.
In a fitting tribute to his memory, a large crowd attended his funeral services in Galway including former members of An Garda Siochana, working colleagues from the United Nations Field Service and from the Irish Army, as well as friends from the golf and bridge clubs and his neighbours from the Salthill area.
Sean Ban a chara dilis, slan abhaile agus ar dheis De go glachfaigh d'anam.
J.T.M.