Death of Martin Blake shocks county

The funeral took place in Fletcherstown on Sunday of Martin Blake, a member of the well-known Wilkinstown farming and business family, who was found dead close to his home, Fletcherstown Lodge, on Wednesday night of last week. It is understood that Gardaí were called to the scene but there is no investigation underway into his death. The death of Mr Blake, who was married with a family of four, has caused widespread shock throughout the area. Mr Blake, who ran the 1,000-acre family dairy farm with his brothers in the early 1980s, rose to become treasurer of the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) towards the end of that decade. Mr Blake and his brothers moved into the meat business, starting Honey Clover Meats, mainly lamb processors. He was also prominent in Premier Dairies, and was later involved in Thermal Waste Management, which hit the headlines when unsuccessfully applying to build a controversial waste incinerator in north Kildare. In 2003, Mr Blake then pulled off a major business coup when he helped put together the Tynagh Energy consortium that beat a host of international power companies to secure a lucrative State infrastructure contract to build a power plant in Galway. Up to 2004, Mr Blake was a director of Mountside Properties, now Mountside Partners, the original developer of the €300 million Tynagh Energy power plant, a €300 million project. He played a key role in that development, helping it through the planning process. The contract to provide power to the ESB was valued at €1bn at the time. He subsequently worked on a number of other Mountside energy undertakings, including the development of specialised power plants in the north-west. Earlier this year, he was listed among the wealthy Irish who had been loaned money by Anglo Irish Bank to buy luxury apartments in New York just as the financial crisis began. Deceased is survived by his wife, Clodagh; family, Holly, Marley, Eve and Thomas; mother, Betty; brothers, Bruce, Ivan and Richie; sisters, Mabel, Marcella and Liz; father-in-law, mother-in-law, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, aunts, uncle, nieces, nephews and other relatives. The funeral took place from St Colmcille's Church, Fletcherstown, to the local cemetery.