ONE of Ireland’s leading humanitarians and co-founder of Concern Worldwide has died in Dublin at the age of 80.
The late Fr Jack Finucane who died this week. (Picture: Liam Burke/Press 22)Lifetime humanitarian Fr Jack Finucane, passed away peacefully on June 7, while on a retreat at Kimmage Manor in Dublin.
Fr. Finucane was a leading figure in the growth of Concern Worldwide, guiding the organisation to reaching millions of vulnerable people across the world.
Speaking about the life of Fr. Finucane, CEO of Concern Worldwide, Dominic MacSorley, said: "An unassuming leader, he brought intelligence, drive and passion to what is now Ireland’s leading humanitarian and development organisation.
"Along with his brother, Aengus, they were a bridge between Ireland’s long tradition of missionary work defining contemporary humanitarian response characterised by professional, practical, compassionate solutions on the ground.
Together, they brought a nation with them.
"What Jack has achieved may never be fully quantified but he has saved and improved the lives of millions of people caught up in crisis and povert," Mr McSorley added.
"Sorely missed, he leaves behind a legacy of incredible humanitarian significance.”
Born in Limerick in 1937 and ordained a priest in 1963, Fr. Finucane was sent to Nigeria with the Holy Ghost Fathers and was at the heart of the distribution of aid flown into Biafra by Concern and other relief organisations.
Following the surrender of Biafra, he was arrested by the Nigerian authorities and spent several weeks in prison before being deported.
He then went to the United States of America where he spent a period in parish Ministry and studied in San Francisco for a Masters in Education.
Fr Jack Finucane in Ethiopia in 1989.In 1973, he was posted to Bangladesh, a country he loved and returned to often, but it was the 1984 famine in Ethiopia where Fr Finucane's knowledge of the country, his considerable diplomatic skills enabled Concern to mount a massive response to the crisis.
By the time that famine received worldwide attention, Concern had a team of 46 expatriates and 890 national staff on the ground and Fr Finucane was an advisor to Bob Geldof and his Live Aid team.
The late Fr. Jack Finucane, Concern Worldwide pictured in Somalia. (Picture: Liam Burke Press 22)In 1985, he brought a young Bono on his first trip to Ethiopia and the singer has credited him with having a huge influence on his thinking with regard to international development.
In 1994, he witnessed over one million people fleeing from Rwanda into Goma, Zaire, and two years later he saw the same population stream across the border to return home.
A powerful driving force, he visited the region almost every month, encouraging and supporting new and innovative resettlement programmes that included supporting hundreds of thousands caught up in horrific prison conditions or reuniting more than 30,000 separated and unaccompanied children.
Fr. Finucane formally retired in 2002 but never stopped working for Concern.
In 2004 flew to Sudan to lead Concern’s response to the Darfur crisis and later went on to oversee Concern’s operations in tsunami-affected Sri Lanka.
Throughout, he remained passionate and engaged in everything to do with Concern including serving on the board of Concern Worldwide US.
President of Ireland Michael D Higgins paid tribute to the late humanitarian, saying: "Jack, and his late brother Fr. Aengus Finucane were inspirational figures among the large group of people in Ireland who value and embody the importance of the humanitarian spirit.
President Michael D. Higgins was presented with the Fr. Aengus Finucane Award for Services to Humanity by Concern Worldwide by Fr. Jack Finucan and Dominic MacSorley, Concern CEO, today at Aras an Uachtarain. (Picture: Mark Stedman/Photocall Ireland)"Theirs was a distinctive voice and their life’s work leaves a real, positive, and enduring legacy for millions of people across the globe, as well as having contributed to Ireland’s reputation abroad in the best possible sense.
"Jack Finucane’s lifelong commitment to protecting the dignity of some of the world’s poorest and most marginalised people will stand not only as a lasting tribute to all that is good about mankind, but is exemplary in its invitation not to avert our gaze from our current challenges of global hunger and poverty."
Ireland's Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan said: “Fr. Jack Finucane was an inspiration and was the driving force behind the foundation of Concern Worldwide.
"People of my generation remember Fr. Finucane and his brother Fr. Aengus showing the most extraordinary moral and physical courage in bringing food and humanitarian assistance to the starving of Biafra in the late 1960s.
"His legacy will endure in the work of the organisation he helped to found, Concern Worldwide. And his example will continue to inspire all those who champion the cause of global development."
