Irish sport lost a great friend last week with the passing of Colm McLoughlin, former Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of Dubai Duty Free.

Under his tenure Dubai Duty Free were proud supporters of sport in Ireland and have been the title sponsor of the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby at the Curragh Racecourse for nearly 20 years.

The company were also the title sponsor of the Irish Open and played a key role in the survival of the whole golf tournament when they came on board as title sponsor in 2015.

The global spotlight that these two key sponsorships brought is immense and even when they stepped back from title sponsorship of the Irish Open they continued as a partner, bringing guests in from around the world to show off the very best of Ireland.

A well-known and much-loved figure in Dubai, Colm was part of the original ten-man team from Aer Rianta who went to Dubai in July 1983 to set up the duty-free operation.

His initial contract with the government of Dubai was for six months but he went on to run the business for over four decades. Under his leadership, Dubai Duty Free became one of the largest single airport operations in the world. He also continued to serve the Irish diaspora throughout his life in Dubai and was a recipient of the Irish Presidential Award in 2014 for his services to Ireland.

He also helped establish the Dubai Duty Free Foundation in 2004 and was very proud of the work that was done to support 119 local and international charities. Irish charities who were beneficiaries of Dubai Duty Free include the Jack & Jill Children’s Foundation and Barretstown Children’s Charity among many other local community organisations.

He was a giant in business but wore that lightly in his warm and engaging personality.

Always willing to take the time to stop and chat, we recorded the interview below as one of our first Sport for Business podcast episodes on Leadership back in 2022.

He will be sadly missed by all who knew him.

May he rest in peace.

 

 

Sport for Business and CapGem will host a special breakfast in the old Dublin Stick Exchange Building on the morning of Thursday November 7th to discuss investment in the League of Ireland. If you are a sport for business member and would like one of a limited number of invitations to join us please email rob@sportforbusiness.com.