Key facts
- Martin Naughton, founder of Glen Dimplex, died at age 87.
- Glen Dimplex grew into a multinational electrical goods company.
- Naughton was a significant philanthropist, supporting education and the arts.
- He was the inaugural chairman of InterTradeIreland.
Martin Naughton, the businessman and philanthropist who founded the electrical goods giant Glen Dimplex, has died at the age of 87. Naughton established Glen Electric in Newry in 1973, which later became Glen Dimplex after acquiring a larger British competitor. He transformed the company into a multinational corporation, known for brands such as Morphy Richards and Lec.
Beyond his business acumen, Naughton was a dedicated philanthropist. In 2001, he and his wife endowed the Naughton Gallery at Queen's University Belfast with £500,000. Professor Sir Ian Greer, President and Vice-Chancellor of Queen's University Belfast, remembered Naughton as an "exceptional entrepreneur, philanthropist and lifelong champion of education," whose generosity has left an "enduring legacy."
In 2018, the Naughton family made what is believed to be the largest private philanthropic donation in the history of the Irish state, gifting €25m to Trinity College Dublin. Dr Linda Doyle, Provost of Trinity, stated that Naughton's "legacy at Trinity will be felt for generations to come."
Naughton, originally from Dundalk, County Louth, also had a strong interest in cross-border cooperation. He served as the inaugural chairman of InterTradeIreland, an organization established under the Good Friday Agreement to foster trade between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.