Westmeath Examiner journalist retires after almost a half a century of service

Olga Aughey

On Friday last, John FitzSimons, a reporter with the Westmeath Examiner for 46 years, laid down his notepad and pen and started for pastures new in retirement.

One of the most recognised faces associated with the Examiner, John has many a story to tell from when he started working here at the age of 18.

They stretch from the golden era of Westmeath football, to getting thrown out of a Fianna Fáil rally by Charlie Haughey, to being a member of staff at the time of the infamous “thundering disgrace” remarks made by Paddy Donegan, Minister for Defence, in Columb Barracks.

John travelled to Mullingar from his native Dublin for the first out of four other newspaper interviews to meet then editor and proprietor Nicholas Nally on November 20, 1972.

“I remember the first night was a Monday and I had to cover a Royal Canal Amenity Group meeting in The Greville Arms Hotel. I knew nobody in town,” begins John.

“Joe Nally was there, Nicholas Nally’s son, and he basically told me everybody that was speaking at the meeting and that was a great start.

“It was great to be thrown in at the deep end, you either sink or swim, and I haven’t sunk yet.”

Son to Alice and John Henry FitzSimons, John grew up on Collins Avenue in Whitehall, Dublin. Educated in O’Connell School, having gone to primary school in St Vincent de Paul in Marino, John’s childhood was a happy one.

“I played football with Scoil Uí Chonaill, played in the Dublin minor hurling championship final in 1972, and I did a lot of cross country running,” he says.

“We did all the normal things, I did five years in Irish college, four in Galway and one in Donegal. I have happy memories of all those days, we had great craic.”

Both John’s parents were born in the North: his mother is from Belfast and his father from Waterask in Dundrum, County Down.

“I followed Down growing up. We spent every holiday, not just summer, in the North. My mother went back as often as she could.”

John’s maternal grandfather was a Longford man who was involved in soccer, and played for Belfast Celtic.

“They were very well known at the time, but even in those days, the ’30s and ’40s, there were sectarian issues in the North and there was huge rivalry between them and the unionist team at the time, Linfield.”

John’s father was a journalist too, first working for the Irish News in Belfast, followed by a stint with the Daily Mail in Birmingham, before returning to Ireland in 1942, where he joined the staff of the Associated Press and the Irish Independent.

“He was a book critic and deputy chief sub editor in the Indo and was Associated Press sports correspondent in Dublin for a number of years,” says John.

“He stayed with the Indo until the retired in 1975 at the age of 65. By that point he was the deputy chief sub editor, so papers were always in the blood.

“My father was a correspondent, and every Sunday he had to get his results into Associated Press by six o’clock. He had to do reports on all-Ireland finals, so I did my first report when I was about 16. They were all published and he would always give me a few shillings to tide me over. 

“He continued doing the results, more or less up until the time he died.”

Once in Mullingar, John became heavily involved in community work as a way of getting to know people.

He was part of Revue Group at the then County Hall, and St Brigid’s Hurling Club, before St Oliver Plunketts was founded in 1976, as well as Mullingar Harriers.

A member of the Order of Malta in Marino, Dublin, since he was 16, John was eventually part of a group that set up the Mullingar branch in 2001.

“I was even PRO for the Tidy Towns committee at one stage. 

“As the late George Evans once said, ‘You’ve more clubs in your bag than Tiger Woods’. I enjoyed it all.”

Thundering Disgrace

Over the years, John was involved in some of the biggest stories to emerge in the midlands, including, mistakenly, one that included then Minister for Defence, Paddy Donegan, in 1976.

“One of the funniest incidents was when Minister Donegan made his famous “thundering disgrace” cock-up in Columb Barrack,” explains John.

“The government at the time wanted President Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh to sign a Special Powers Act to clamp down on IRA members, and the president refused to sign the document.

“Minister Donegan was down opening a cookhouse at Columb Barracks, and he called the president a ‘thundering disgrace’ in front of a packed mass of soldiers and officers.

“He was challenging the chief of staff of the army, who was the president, and it caused the collapse of the government. It made national and international headlines.

“The reporter that covered that was Don Lavery, another Dublin lad, and for a long time afterwards there was terrible confusion over which Dublin lad actually covered it, whether it was Don Lavery or John FitzSimons. 

“As a consequence, the Fine Gael government collapsed, and the next general election, Fianna Fáil had a landslide victory. I, along with about five other colleagues, was down covering the election count in Longford. 

“When the count was all over, we of course repaired to the local hostelry, Kelly’s Pub, and this confusion over who had written the piece led to a very pleasant evening because when we came through the door, one of the local Westmeath Fianna Fáil supporters let out this big roar: ‘Here’s the man that brought down the government!’. 

“I went to correct him but one of my colleagues put his hand over my mouth, I was made take the credit that evening, and we socialised very well that evening – copious pints flowing in our direction, and the boys all smiling and cheering ‘Fitz’!”

Sport

A lot of John’s time was spent as a sports journalist and one of the stand-out moments was in 2004, when the senior footballers won their first and only Leinster title, and 1995 when the minors won their all-Ireland title.

“The excitement around those two events was unbelievable,” says John. “They were very special times. The U21s won their championship in 1999, led by Aidan Canning, and it seemed like that was the great breakthrough. Five years later a good few of those boys were on Páidí Ó Sé’s team in Croke Park when they beat Laois.

“1995 was brilliant, I was able to bring two of my children, Niamh and Aoife, with me to the press box. Sean and Brian were too young.

“O’Leary walking the horse, Rule The World, down the main street of Mullingar after he won the Aintree Grand National in 2016 was another great moment. The excitement and the goodwill in the town that day were unreal.”

Night Patrol

One of John’s roles in the Westmeath Examiner was crime correspondent and he always had a good working relationship with An Garda Síochána in Mullingar.

“Probably one of my favourite aspects of journalism was working so closely with the guards. I always remember, with the co-operation of the superintendent in Mullingar and the separate units, we put together a six-part series called ‘Night Patrol’. It was very well received in all quarters.

“I remember one Christmas morning, the retired Bishop of Meath, Michael Smith, met me in St Paul’s Church and gave me Christmas greetings, and nodded ‘Good article’.

“I’ve worked closely with the emergency services over the years, and I’m very aware of the difficult situations members of the emergency services and the gardaí face on a regular basis.

“I was at the scene of many a tragedy and many of those scenarios still live with me. I remember most that have occurred in those 46 years, and some were horrific. Your heart goes out to the families.”

From Gaybo to Haughey

During the course of his career John rubbed shoulders with people from all walks of society, including former presidents of Ireland such as Paddy Hillery, but he was the butt of many a joke too, including one by Gaybo.

“I got a huge put-down by Gay Byrne in 1973 – I wasn’t long in the job. He opened the original Athlone Golden Island shopping centre and he was the guest of honour.

We went for a meal afterwards in the what was the Royal Hotel - at that time the press used to be treated well - and being the youngest cub, I was sent to ask the great Mr Byrne if he had a few words prepared.

“Mr Byrne looked at me, and looked around at all his entourage, and said: ‘Sonny, do you not realise that I never have anything to say’, and he laughed, and the whole table erupted that Gay Byrne had nothing to say. And I could hear that laughter the whole way back to the press desk.

“Minister for Health at the time, Charlie Haughey – his mother and my mother were great friends but he didn’t know me. And he came down to the Beehive Lodge on the Delvin Road for a Fianna Fáil function and he was making a few presentations. The press were given five minutes with him and the only press that was there was me.

“Mullingar hospital was a live issue at the time and he answered a few questions on that. We also had an Athlone edition of the Westmeath Examiner at the time, so I asked him if that meant St Vincent’s Hospital in Athlone was going to be downgraded, and he went ‘off on one’ as they say.

“‘I’m not here to be asked about Athlone, I’m here to talk about Mullingar’, he roared. He obviously didn’t have an answer prepared. ‘Get him out of here!’ he said, so I was escorted off the premises by a member of An Garda Síochána. It was discussed in family circles after that. I never met him again.

Politics

“Another good story in terms of politics was Albert Reynolds, who decided to launch his political career in Mullingar. He came for a rally and nobody turned up.

“We knew each other and he said to me, ‘John what am I going to do?’, so I told him to hold on a few minutes because on my way in, I had noticed outgoing independent TD, Joe Sheridan, in the bar in the Greville. 

“I asked him if he’d like to come out and see Albert Reynolds for a second, and have a photo with Albert – which Albert used as an endorsement for his campaign.

“Albert had purchased the Longford News at the time and he splashed that photo all over the front page. We were good aul buddies for a long time after that,” he laughs.

Printworks

When the Examiner printworks closed between 1999 and 2000, it was a sad time for John and for many in the town.

“There used to be such a buzz about the papers being printed on a Wednesday evening in Mullingar. People queued out the back door, looking at this machine going, wanting to get their hands on the first editions. 

“The modern printing presses that are printing the national newspapers – they’re a work of art really.

“O remember the smell of the ink, the banging of the machines. When I was in Dublin, in secondary school during the summers, I worked part-time for the Evening Herald delivering newspapers. 

“There’s only two major printhouses in the midlands left, Mullaghboy and Kells.

“The loss of the printworks in Mullingar was a huge blow – a lot of people lost their jobs at that time. It was a sad time.”

John has witnessed many a change in technology over the years, including the evolution of digital technology and social media.

“The need now is to put your story up as quickly as possible on websites and Facebook. 

“There are still people who are very loyal to the Westmeath Examiner newspaper, but sadly, as the years pass, people pass. And most people would sooner read the paper on their phones.”

Plans

John plans to keep busy during his retirement and is planning more community work with the Order of Malta; as well as a visit to his son in Toronto. But, it’s the people he will miss the most.

“I’ll miss the buzz and the bit of banter – the people I work with. I’ve been very fortunate over all those years to have worked with very good people, people who are actually putting their hearts and souls into the paper.

“I like to think that I gave as good as I got and the team behind me are just as dedicated as I’d like to think I was. You’d like to think the paper would continue for many a year – as it has done since 1882.

“Hopefully the community will buy into it and keep it alive.”