Jim Flannery - A Tribute
Jim Flannery, who passed away during our Spring Break, was described by Paul Carty as “a stalwart of the industry”, and his words are both apposite and true.
Jim’s expertise spanned hotel management, tourism and hotel administration, international consulting and association leadership, and to each role he brought his intelligent insights, pragmatism, work ethic and unfailing good humour.
We first met when his name was on the back of every hotel room in Ireland, in his capacity as Bord Failte Hotels Registrar during the fraught era of hotel grading, when the difference between a Grade B and Grade B Star could have a dramatic influence on annual profit.
We co-operated on many projects during his presidency of the Irish Hotel and Catering Institute, and we developed a close and productive working relationship when he became chief executive of the Irish Hotels Federation in 1978. In those days, it was easier to extract information from the Kremlin than from the Federation, but Jim changed all that, believing that communication with the wider industry via Hotel and Catering Review was in everybody’s best interests.
He developed the IHF involvement with the International Hotel Association and marked the Golden Jubilee of the Federation by inviting me to write my first book, Hotels in Ireland, which was published in 1987.
Jim moved onwards in the following year to develop a career as a distinguished tourism consultant, undertaking assignments in Africa, the Middle and Far East, the USA and Europe. These included drafting national tourism plans, establishing and managing Tourist Boards in Sierra Leone, The Gambia and Kenya.
He always returned to Ireland, however, filling key roles in the Institute of Directors and SKAL International (where he remained an active member).
He met his wife while a student at Shannon College of Hotel Management, whose student magazine The Ladder reported in 1962 that “The President of the Students’ Association, Jim Flannery, has become engaged to Margaret Dennehy” and that the wedding would take place “next May”.
It did - and it lasted for a wonderful and loving 62 years.
Jim was the father of Liam, John, Sarah and Ruth, brother to Sadie, father-in-law to Orlaith, Karen and Jens, grandfather of Anna, Caroline, Amy, Billy, Rachael, Conor, Lara, Louise, Daniel, Lilli and the late James.
- Frank Corr
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