In a guest column, Michael Horton recalls how a former Irish rugby international entered the history of news media in New Zealand and closed an illustrious chapter during which the Wilson and Horton families had been at the forefront of the country’s newspaper production and the flagship New Zealand Herald.

 

Sir Anthony O’Reilly, who died on May 18 aged 88, was a brilliant man marked out for a lifetime of achievement which sadly ended following a succession of takeovers which drained his resources to the point of bankruptcy in 2015.

I first met Tony following a meeting in London with his manager during a world trip to locate a  buyer for the 30% holding in Wilson & Horton held by Brierley Investments Ltd.

I had looked for a buyer unsuccessfully in Australia, the United States of America and London and was at the point of returning to New Zealand when I was invited to meet the chief executive of the Irish Independent, Liam Healy, in London in a Park Lane Hotel.

Finally, I had found a party really interested in New Zealand and with experience in newspapers, notably with the Irish Independent owned by the remarkable Tony O’Reilly, already well-known for his charm and sporting abilities seen by all New Zealanders during a tour of the British Lions in 1959.

In 1995 I flew to Dublin with my wife Rosemary Horton to continue the conversation and see how serious the offer was and continue these talks. Continue reading “How an Irish entrepreneur took the NZ Herald into a new era” →