As mentioned in our previous email (Review of the Year 2023, posted on December 31), John Mallon, our spokesman in Ireland since 2010, died on Thursday December 28 following a long battle with ill health.

The funeral took place on Wednesday (January 3) and for those who couldn't attend in person the requiem mass was broadcast online from his local church in Mayfield, Cork.

During the service John’s son and daughter presented “symbols of John’s life”. They included his laptop computer, a family photo, a replica football shirt, a book, and some mince pies.

His daughter Michelle explained that the laptop represented his “thirst for knowledge and his love of world affairs, history, and politics”, while other items represented his love of sport, reading, and his “sweet tooth”.

The message that came through loud and clear, though, was the love he had for his family which he put above everything, including material possessions or wealth.

Simon Clark, director of Forest, has posted a tribute on his blog. If you haven't read it, here's a passage or two:

When Forest Ireland was founded in 2010 there was only one person in the frame to be our spokesman. Before and after the introduction of the public smoking ban in Ireland, in March 2004, the name John Mallon would appear on the letters pages of various national newspapers.

It wasn’t until 2010, however, that we finally met in person. Thereafter, until Covid broke the pattern, we would see each other two or three times a year, including an annual meeting in Cork, usually before Christmas, that would start with a formal debrief in a nondescript hotel room, continue in a local restaurant, and finish in a noisy pub ...

To say John was affable is an understatement, which is why people couldn’t help but like him. But he also had a stubborn streak, and it was the combination of the two that made him such a dogged and engaging campaigner.

​Over the years he became a frequent interviewee on Newstalk, Ireland’s leading independent radio station. He was a familiar voice too on many local radio stations and each year (before Covid struck), he would embark on a two-week media tour - starting (and finishing) in Cork, with stops in Limerick, Tipperary, Galway, Kilkenny, and Waterford, to name a few.

Apart from keeping the flame of freedom alive in Ireland for 20 years, John’s greatest moment was arguably appearing before a parliamentary committee in February 2013. We were a bit nervous about the outcome but John charmed the committee to such an extent that after the meeting several members approached him for a convivial chat ...

In recent years John suffered increasingly from poor health but he remained remarkably stoic and resilient. He gave his last radio interview just two weeks ago, informing me that his voice was ‘weak’ but refusing to pass up the request ...

My commiserations to John’s wife Phil, his children (Michelle and Des), and the rest of his family. But I would like to finish by quoting from the last and typically generous email I received from John. On Christmas Eve he wrote:

It has been a misfortunate year for me but that does not mean I cannot wish others well. So my best wishes over the Christmas Holiday to you and your family and I hope 2024 brings you good luck and good fortune.

Thank you, John. I feel privileged to have known you.

Full tribute: John Mallon RIP (Taking Liberties)

Above: John with Simon Clark and colleagues outside the
appropriately named Liberty Grill in Cork, November 2019

Award-winning blogger Richard O'Connor (aka 'Grandad'), who helped John (above) set up his own blog, writes:

‘John took to the scribbling lark like a duck to water. Over the years we kept up sporadic correspondence. He would occasionally phone me just for a chat when we would have a grand laugh at life. We shared a common jaundiced view on life in general.

‘Sadly, we never met, as he lived in Cork, and I didn’t. On several occasions we had some near misses as I travelled to west Cork or he travelled to Dublin but for various reasons that meet never happened.

‘I’ll miss his gentle Cork accent and his unrepeatable comments on our politicians.’

Full post: John Mallon (Head Rambles)

Above: Campaigning outside the Irish Parliament in Dublin, 2013

PR consultant Jacqui Delbaere, who has worked with Forest for 20 years, told us:

"I had the joy and privilege of working with John over a number of years in his capacity as Forest Ireland spokesman. I set up radio and TV interviews for his media tours. John was always lovely to work with, up for the ‘craic’, and I will miss our banter and camaraderie. God bless."

Above: Jacqui with John and Simon Clark on
the terrace of the House of Commons in July 2011 

John Mallon: born March 25, 1956, died December 28, 2023

Above: John with Simon Clark and colleagues
at the River Lee Hotel, Cork, November 2022