Tom Toner was a diminutive but dynamic figure in Irish public life for over a half a century, combining his private business affairs with a public non-political role advising government on economic policy.
As chairman of Forfás, the national policy advisory board for enterprise and innovation, he warned the government as far back as 1998 of the need to “accelerate preparations for the next wave of investment, which will be e-commerce”.
It was vital, he said, that Ireland had the capacity, efficiency and skills to fully exploit what he predicted back then would “become one of the most rapidly expanding areas of business.” As usual, he was right.
At his funeral in Haddington Road church, the celebrant, Reverend Patrick Claffey, recalled dinners they had together at the home of their friends Maurice and Mary Manning at which Tom Toner had “opinions on almost everything” and was not shy about expressing them.
Although he had given up drinking after it became a problem and joined Alcoholics Anonymous many years ago, Toner remained a gregarious companion who had a love of travel and was a keen follower of his beloved Kildare GAA, which he supported financially, and the Leinster rugby team.
Thomas Christopher Toner, who has died at the age of 92, was born in The Curragh military camp in Co Kildare in 1932, the son of a War of Independence veteran from Armagh, who had joined the Irish army. He was the first of his family to be born in the Free State, as his mother opted to remain at home while his father settled in.
His funeral mass was told that at that time his father, who was a Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO), had to step out of the way if they met officers or the families and this inequality imbued him with a will to succeed in life on his own terms.
He went to school at the De La Salle college in Kildare. He played GAA with Suncroft and the Kildare minors, captaining the team in 1950.
To his great regret, he never saw the senior team win an All-Ireland title, although they were beaten by Galway in the 1998 final.
His son Alan recalled that his father was a voracious reader who was banned from his best friend’s house as a teenager for lending him a copy of Ulysses, although the book was never officially censored in Ireland.
He got a scholarship to UCD, graduating in 1953 and moved to Dublin, where he played Gaelic football and rugby with Railway Union.
On a sporting trip to Castlebar he met his future wife Audre — who, his son Alan said, was “taller than him”, an important distinction. They married in 1963. After college he joined CIÉ, where he remained for 14 years, involved in data analytics and transport planning.
Tom’s great tragedy was the death of his wife Audre in 1986 at the age of 50
At his funeral, Alan said his father’s proudest achievement was working with then education minister Donogh O’Malley on the introduction of a free transport system for children.
While working with Allied Irish Investment Bank in 1968, he did an MBA, with a dissertation on long-range planning. He then joined Martin Rafferty in the food and drinks distribution business Brooks Watson Group, now known as BWG.
Initially it was a very difficult transition which involved major cutbacks. “He hated to cut jobs, but there was no other way to save the company,” said Alan.
He was a pivotal part of a management buyout and was handsomely rewarded when it was bought by Irish Distillers and is now part of the Pernod Ricard conglomerate.
Tom’s great tragedy was the death of his wife Audre in 1986 at the age of 50, after a long battle with cancer.
After the sale of BWG he became involved with the software company Inishtech. He was also chairman of Arnotts department store for 14 years from 1986 and was a director of Bank of Ireland, Shell, Tullow Oil, Irish Continental Group and other entities.
He was, said his son, “a militant improver” and was not shy in expressing the view during the years of the Troubles that “too many people talked about dying for Ireland, instead of living for it”.
Following a restructuring of state development agencies he was the first chairman of Forfás, which was instrumental in persuading the government to adopt the 12.5pc corporation tax rate.
He was also president of the Federated Union of Employers (now Ibec) and held other government advisory positions.
Tom Toner, who had moved from Leopardstown to Sandymount in Dublin in 2018, died peacefully in St Vincent’s Hospital on October 26.
He is survived by his children Kevin, Oonagh, David and Alan.