PATRICK J. WRIGHT
Patrick Wright was born in Fairview in 1941 and was
educated at O’Connell CBS. He quickly entered the world of
work in 1959 when he got a job as a clerk with the B&I
Steam Packet Company. With a starting wage of £4 per
week, Paddy was delighted to be employed and to be living
and working in his native Dublin. In 1972 he moved to the
Rank Organisation in Ireland and was appointed Managing
Director in 1974.
In 1976 Paddy moved to the Jefferson Smurfit Group and
became Personal Assistant to Group Chairman Dr. Michael
Smurfit. This began what was to be a long commitment to
the company, in which he has held numerous executive
positions. Prior to the restructuring of the management in
1986, Paddy was Managing Director of the Smurfit
Distributing Division and subsequently of the Corrugated &
Allied Packaging Division. He was appointed Chairman
and Chief Executive of Smurfit Ireland in 1986 and
subsequently Smurfit UK in 1992. In 1996, after twenty
years with the company, Paddy Wright was named President
and Chief Operations Officer of the Global Jefferson
Smurfit Group. Paddy’s leadership style in Smurfit was
widely noted and admired. It involved a willingness to
travel worldwide to familiarise himself with the company’s
many plants, and an ability to spot and reward talent. Under
Paddy’s leadership, the company prospered.
Paddy retired from Smurfit’s in January 2000 and, in June
2000, the Government appointed him to the post of
Chairman of the RTE Authority for a term of five years. He
also serves as Chairman of Aon McDonagh Boland
Insurance Brokers, a Board Member of the Anglo Irish Bank
and is a member of the Executive Committee of Croke Park.
Paddy has also sat on the Board of Aer Lingus (where he
served as Deputy Chairman), Bord Iascaigh Mhara (where
he served as Chairman), and the Irish Goods Council. He is
a Past President of the Confederation of Irish Industry and a
founding member of the National Executive Committee of
the Irish Business and Employers Confederation. He was
also Vice President of the Union of Industrial and
Employers’ Confederation of Europe.
Paddy credits much of his success to the love and support he
received from his family. He married Carol in 1965 and
together they have five children: Louise, Carol, Sandra,
Alison and Patrick, Jr. Family has always been the central
focus in Paddy’s life and he believes that an active and
loving family environment is a key to success. Despite his
many achievements and the active jet-bound lifestyle of a
top executive, Paddy always placed his family first and they
remain very close today. In addition to serving as a career
role model for his children, Paddy instilled in them his sense
of self-confidence: “seldom wrong, never in doubt,” is the
family’s favourite description of their dad.
Paddy also encouraged all of the children to adopt his great
love of sport. Whether it was golf, Gaelic Football and
Hurling, Rugby, or the girls’ great love, Basketball – all of
the Wrights have sport as a central element of their lives.
Paddy knew that involvement in sport demonstrates a sense
of the team and the determination to finish what you start.
Indeed, these qualities carried over in every aspect of
Paddy’s life, and coupled with a strong work ethic,
enthusiasm, common sense, and above all, loyalty, Paddy
Wright has been successful at everything he has involved
himself in.
It is not surprising therefore that in 1988, the former
President of this University, Dr. Danny O’Hare, approached
Paddy and asked him to join a small group of like-minded
business people who had formed what became the Dublin
City University Educational Trust. Paddy tells of his great
respect for what Danny O’Hare was doing for this
“Northside University” and his desire to do what he could to
help ensure its success. He took the Chair of the Trust, and
in the years that followed he aided the University in raising
over £80 million in private support. When asked why he got
involved, Paddy says simply that, as a Northsider, he wanted
to help the development of education in North Dublin. He
was immediately attracted to the business focus of the
university and the passion and commitment of Danny and
later, Ferdinand von Prondzynski, our current President.
Like so many of Paddy’s endeavours, his work with the
Trust and his tireless efforts to help steer the university were
made quietly and without undue attention, but with
unending loyalty for his adopted university. Colleagues on
the Trust Board describe him as a “force,” an effective and
able leader who moved the Trust and the university forward
at a critical time in their development.
Today we honour Paddy Wright for a lifetime of success,
and, somewhat more importantly, for a lifetime of
involvement. Like the Ireland he was born to, Paddy has
turned obstacles into opportunities and difficulty into
determination. His career stands as an example to those
who today enter the business community, or any profession,
that loyalty to those around you is central to personal
success. His success tells us all that hard work and
commitment are rewarded.
Paddy never received a college degree. It would not have
been a realistic option for someone in his position. Paddy
instead attended what is sometimes called the “University of
Life.” Ironically, it is often people like Paddy, who were not
able to participate in higher education themselves, who most
strongly believe it is the key element in an individual’s
ability to succeed. Looked at from this perspective, one
could say that Paddy Wright’s entire life has been a tribute
to education, a tribute to those he loves, and an example to
all of us that with hard work and determination anything is
truly possible. Dublin City University is pleased to honour
Patrick J. Wright with the degree of Doctor of Philosophy,
honoris causa.