Private funeral for Martin Naughton funeral to take place

Gathering for family and friends at the Merrion Hotel on Thursday to celebrate his life

Following a private funeral, strictly immediate family only, a celebration of businessman Dr Martin Naughton’s life will take place on Thursday 9th July at the Merrion Hotel, Dublin, for family and friends.

Entrepreneur, philanthropist, and parton of the arts, Dr Naughton, who with his wife, Carmel, oversaw an extensive restoration and conservation of their home, Stackallan House, between Slane and Navan, died suddenly on 3rd July while travelling with Mrs Naughton in the United States. The Dundalk, Co Louth, native was aged 87.

The family came to Stackallan, between Slane and Navan, the former home of internationally renowned horse breeder, Elizabeth Burke in 1993, and immediately began an extensive restoration of the house and demesne, a 15th century manor expanded in the 1700s by Gustavas Hamilton, who was the first Viscount Boyne.

Born in 1939, after attending De La Salle College in Dundalk, Dr Naughton went on to train in aeronautical followed by mechanical engineering with a focus on industrial engineering at Southampton College of Technology (UK). In 1961, he returned to Ireland to work for Shannon Pressed Steel, an American company, prior to joining GEC Dunleer six months later, which marked the start of his exposure to the electrical appliance industry. Aged 21, he was their industrial engineering manager running a department of 14 people, before going on to become production manager and later works manager.

In 1973, Dr Naughton became an entrepreneur when he established a small electrical appliance manufacturer, Glen Electric. While he nurtured the business – which had less than 10 employees at the time – he quickly learned the importance of brand and saw that organic growth needed to be supplemented with the acquisition. Four years after Glen Electric was founded, it acquired the much larger company Dimplex, a leading electrical heating brand in the UK, to form the Glen Dimplex Group. At the time, Dimplex was eight times the size of Glen - a bold and enterprising business deal that laid the foundation for decades of successful growth. Dr Naughton continued to grow the company by acquisition, and today, the company works across 20 countries utilising the skills of over 8,000 people across our four key sectors.

In 1991, Dr Naughton was appointed to the Board of Trustees of the University of Notre Dame, and served as one of its Trustees Emeriti. In 1994, he and Mrs Naughton established The Naughton Foundation to support arts and educational causes. Since 2008, the foundation has offered scholarships to encourage students to pursue studies in STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) subjects. Originally the programme only applied to counties Louth, Meath and Monaghan, but since expanded nationwide.

In 1995, Dr Naughton received an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from Trinity College, Dublin. He has also received honorary doctorates from the University of Notre Dame, University College Dublin, Queen University Belfast, the Ulster University of Coleraine, and Griffith College Dublin.

He was the inaugural chairman of InterTrade Ireland, one of six all-island Irish bodies set up in 1999 by the British and Irish governments following the Belfast Agreement.

He also served on the Council of State for Mary McAleese during her first term (1997-2004) as President.

In 2001, Dr Naughton founded the Naughton Art Gallery & Museum at Queen’s University, Belfast, as well as the Martin Naughton Chair in Business Strategy.

He donated significantly to the University’s Riddel Hall Business School. In 2006, in recognition of his long-standing support of the University of Notre Dame, they renamed their Keough Institute for Irish Studies the Keough-Naughton Institute.

The Naughtons were the main benefactors to the Lyric Theatre in Belfast and, in 2008, they received the Prince of Wales Gold Medal for Arts Philanthropy from Prince Charles in recognition of their support of the theatre in Belfast. Subsequently, in Scotland, they funded the Prince‘s Drawing School – 'Dimplex Studio' – as part of the Prince of Wales’ Dumfries House initiative. Dr Naughton was knighted by HRH the Prince of Wales in 2015.

The Abbey Theatre in Dublin said that with Mrs Naughton, he was one of the theatre’s valued patrons, “That generosity and commitment has made an enduring impact on the countless artists and audiences who have benefited from Martin and Carmel Naughton’s support of the Abbey Theatre. Martin was a steadfast champion of the arts and was a passionate believer in the power of culture to enrich lives and strengthen society.”

He was made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, awarded the Whitaker Award of the Irish Academy of Management, and both he and Mrs Naughton were named Philanthropists of the Year by the Community Foundation for Ireland. He was awarded France’s highest national honour when he was made an Officier de la Legion d’Honneur.

Dr Naughton was the co-owner of The Merrion Hotel in Dublin, along with the family of his Glen Dimplex partner, Lochlann Quinn.

In 2016, Dr Naughton took a step back from Glen Dimplex, giving control of it to his three children. Last year, Dr Naughton’s son, Fergal, became Group CEO, replacing Fergal Leamy who was last month named the chief executive designate of An Post.

Fergal Naughton said at the time: “I consider it a privilege to lead my family’s business, which was founded by my father, Martin, more than half a century ago.”

Meath East TD and Minister for EU Affairs, Thomas Byrne, said he was deeply saddened to learn of the death of one of Ireland’s greatest industrialists and philanthropists.

"From small beginnings in Newry, he built Glen Dimplex into a world leader,” the Minister for European Affairs stated.

"Countless students locally and nationally got their start through the Naughton Foundation. Martin’s impact, with his wife Carmel, on education, culture and innovation is felt internationally. In Meath we were proud to know him as a resident. My sympathies to Mrs Naughton and the Naughton family.”

Dr Naughton is survived by his wife, Carmel, family, Fiona, Neil and Fergal, their partners, his grandchildren, extended family, wide circle of friends and colleagues.

The celebration of Martin’s life will take place on Thursday 9th July at the Merrion Hotel, from 3 pm to 6 pm for family and friends.