I feel so lucky that Colm was my Dad because of all the things he gave me. He introduced me to so much music he loved to play and especially to listen to: Jake Thackray, Art Tatum, Irish folk songs and The Beatles, Holst and Gorecki. This love of music is a gift that keeps on giving, that came from his father and my sisters and I are all passing on to our own children.


His gifts included all these little things, like the mysteries of the cryptic crossword, and some big things: a fascination with the natural world, the birds, the night sky. I remember watching ant trails with him as a kid camping in the New Forest, and gazing into rock pools on beaches.

He also taught me about the human world: broad sweeps of history, politics, economics.  The craziness and unfairness often made him rage, but even here he could see the humour in the absurdity of life.  And he loved comedians that laid it bare: Douglas Adams, Monty Python, Tom Lehrer and Dave Allen.
 
He had this rare ability to really see, and hear, and appreciate the miracle of life.  He could take such joy in a new baby or the company of friends or a good tune. If a thing was good, it seemed he could delight in it the same way forever and it would never run out for him. Beyond that, this deep sense of wonder and awe at the richness of the world. 
 
He taught me humility. He never thought the world’s problems had easy, simple answers. He never claimed that he knew the best way to fix things. And during long, political debates, when I was a teenager and I knew everything, he would patiently tell me so for hours. He saw that the world is infinitely big, and people are small and we can't know everything.

Despite this sense of the world being too big for one person to ever really understand, he still knew in his bones that his choices mattered and made a difference to others. He had an unshakable sense of right and wrong, of loyalty and duty to those who depended on him.  I saw it working at his factory in the summer holidays, in advice he’d give me at key moments when I had career decisions, or got married or had children of my own.

In his marriage, as an employer, as a father, and a son, and a brother he had the most tremendous work ethic and he took pride in doing the things that mattered right. He would never take an easy shortcut for his own benefit, and he wouldn’t judge others for their own choices. More than anything, he was so uncommonly unselfish.


Archimedes said “give me a place to stand and I shall move the world”. Dad’s steadfast rock solid support all my life, and his moral clarity gave me that place to stand.

His patience and curiosity, and his selfless sense of wonder, gave me the perspective, if not to move the world, at least to see it and marvel at it and appreciate it for what it is. I hope that now he has an even better view of this marvellous crazy world and he knows that he's done right by all of us.