There are a number of notable achievements in the life of businessman Martin Naughton, who has died aged 87.
Naughton’s business empire was built in the highly competitive field of domestic appliances . Having bought Glen Electric in Newry in 1973, the company then bought a major UK competitor, Dimplex , four years later. Along with business partner Lochlann Quinn, Naughton built Glen Dimplex, from operations on both sides of the Irish Border, into a global force.
Few Irish-owned manufacturing companies have made it onto the world stage. Glen Dimplex showed that it was possible to build a global player from an Irish base and continue to compete through product innovation and modern manufacturing.
Naughton stepped down from day to day involvement in Glen Dimplex 2016, but by then had already developed into one of Ireland’s leading philanthropists, through the Naughton Foundation run with his wife Carmel. This was driven by backing causes and institutions he believed in with his own money, something from which other wealthy business figures could perhaps learn.
RM Block
The driving forces of his philanthropy have been clear – among them the arts and a commitment to cooperation and building links across the Irish Border and between Ireland and the US. His most significant contribution, however, was in education, where he extended millions to back the development of teaching and research in science and technology, notably through new facilities in Trinity College, Dublin.
As an engineer who built a manufacturing company, he could see how vital this was to Ireland’s competitiveness. He backed what he believed in. He also did this through a long-running scholarship programme run by the Naughton Foundation to fund students from across Ireland to study science, technology, engineering and maths, which will have transformed many lives. Business figures are fond of talking about the importance of innovation; few others have done as much to promote it.
