Remembering Athy's Martin Chanders and Dan Flinter

THE recent passing of two Athy men brought home to me the importance of lives lived well, whether by addressing the needs of your hometown or exercising influence on a national scale.

Martin Chanders, son of the legendary footballer Cuddy Chanders and twin brother of Dom, was a well-liked and highly respected member of our local community here in Athy.

Both Martin and Dom were to be seen together on a regular basis and always greeted with a friendliness which underlined their generosity of spirit.

Their involvement in the Young at Heart organisation is well known and Martin particularly was seen as an important organiser of the many pleasant trips arranged for its elderly members.

What may not be known is that the Chanders family, who were Quakers, came from Birmingham in the 17th century. They settled near the Laois-Kildare border before a branch of the family moved to Athy.

Martin worked in Minch Nortons as a screen operator before health issues caused him to retire almost twenty-three years ago.

A member of the Tidy Towns committee, Martin also served for a number of years as a Town Crier. Both Martin and his twin brother Dom were very active members of the wider community which made up the town of Athy.

Another Athy man who died during the week was Dan Flinter. Dan was a proud native of Athy who achieved national status as a leader of many Irish institutions, including as executive director of the IDA, chief executive of Forbairt (a forerunner of Enterprise Ireland), and chairman of The Irish Times.

Dan was educated in Athy CBS and UCD and began his career as an economist working across the public, private and non-profit sectors.

After his retirement he continued to serve the public good in many roles, including on the Board of the National Gallery and as chairman of the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.

Dan, who phoned my office last October to offer congratulations on the opening of the Shackleton Museum, was a man who expressed a desire to help the museum in any way possible.

I was unaware at that stage that he had already been diagnosed with cancer and sadly Dan has now joined his brothers Tommy, who worked for Aer Lingus, and Pat, a CBS classmate of mine who was managing director of Tegral Metal Forming Limited here in Athy.

Dan was a truly important figure on the Irish national scene of the recent past and I can only recall two other Athy men, now long deceased, with a similar ranking. They were JJ Bergin of Maybrook and Juan Greene of Kilkea.