{"id":1069990,"date":"2026-07-05T13:05:48","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T13:05:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1069990\/"},"modified":"2026-07-05T13:05:48","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T13:05:48","slug":"tributes-paid-to-businessman-and-philanthropist-martin-naughton-the-irish-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1069990\/","title":{"rendered":"Tributes paid to businessman and philanthropist Martin Naughton \u2013 The Irish News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tributes have been paid to philanthropist and businessman Martin Naughton, who has died aged 87.<\/p>\n

Mr Naughton founded Glen Dimplex<\/a> in Newry in 1973, which grew into one of the world\u2019s largest manufacturers of domestic heating appliances.<\/p>\n

A promoter of cross-border trade and business throughout the Troubles, he was also known for his charity work, with he and his wife Carmel being honoured by Pope Francis in recognition of their \u201coutstanding philanthropy\u201d in the areas of education and the arts.<\/p>\n

In 2007, Mr Naughton donated \u00a31 million to Belfast\u2019s Lyric Theatre, which was said at the time to be the single biggest personal gift ever made to an arts organisation in Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n

\"Noah<\/a>\"Noah<\/a><\/p>\n

He also supported educational initiatives, donating $25 million to Trinity College Dublin in 2018 through the Naughton Foundation, which supports scholarship schemes for Leaving Cert students in Ireland.<\/p>\n

\"PhilanthropistPhilanthropist businessman Martin Naughton has died aged 87 <\/p>\n

Provost at Trinity Dr Linda Doyle said: \u201cMartin Naughton\u2019s legacy at Trinity will be felt for generations to come.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been my great honour and privilege to have known such an inspiring and generous man.\u201d<\/p>\n

T\u00e1naiste Simon Harris paid tribute to the \u201cexceptional businessman, an incredible philanthropist and an all-round thoroughly good human being\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was witty, he was sincere, he was kind, and his loss will be felt immensely by so, so many, most particularly his family.\u201d Mr Harris said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the founder of Glen Dimplex, he built one of Ireland\u2019s great manufacturing success stories from a small operation into a global business.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn doing so he created and sustained thousands of jobs.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeyond his business achievements, his and his wife Carmel\u2019s philanthropy through the Naughton Foundation and their support for education, the arts, and peace on this island left a lasting mark on Irish life.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis contribution will live on for generations and generations in our country, in his generous charitable work through the Foundation, the Naughton Scholarship, the contribution to education institutions, and of course his brilliant business legacy.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tributes have been paid to philanthropist and businessman Martin Naughton, who has died aged 87. Mr Naughton founded…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1069991,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5011],"tags":[10957,299,15458,1144,13136,16,15],"class_list":["post-1069990","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-northern-ireland","tag-death","tag-europe","tag-irish","tag-northern-ireland","tag-republic-of-ireland","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116867519547831771","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1069990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1069990"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1069990\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1069991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1069990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1069990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1069990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}