The “end of an era” was how many people, who knew Mike Mulqueen, reacted to the news of his recent death. It seemed a fair summation for a man who made such a positive impact on the lives of so many and on the industrial life of Galway and Ireland.
Mike, a native of County Limerick, came to Galway in 1971 as Personnel Manager for Digital Equipment Corporation which had just announced that it was establishing its European Manufacturing base in Galway.
He was the corporation’s first employee in Ireland and he was joined by a start-up team from the US. Within three months he had recruited the first production workers and by Christmas staff numbers had grown to 140. More importantly Mike, as Personnel Manager, had started to establish the values and ethics of company president Ken Olsen, which had already permeated the young Digital in the US. He did that superbly well and helped create the work environment which so many of those who worked for the company in Ireland look back on with great pride and great fondness.
Part of the community
Mike oversaw the creation of a work environment in which employees were seen as key to the success of the operation. Their families were not forgotten either. Mike also considered Digital to be part of the community and the company provided support for many causes, often under the radar. Even within the company few people were aware that the brand new minibus acquired by a local charity caring for special needs children had been provided by Digital.
It was Mike along with his fellow managers who decided that Digital should mark Galway’s Quincentenary in 1984. The end result was that land was purchased in Salthill and turned into a public garden for use by the people of Galway. The garden has since been transformed into “Circle of Life - Garden of Commemoration and Thanksgiving”.
Mike and Digital also played an important role in education. As Digital manufactured increasingly complex electronic products and became involved in Research and Development, the country’s universities and institutes of technology were persuaded to provide an increasing range of engineering degree courses.
Remote school terminals
On another level in the 1980s Digital installed remote terminals in the city’s secondary schools, giving Galway students the opportunity to use email and social media before most of the world had ever heard these terms.
The Galway plant, with Mike still at the HR helm, played an increasingly important role in making Digital the world’s second largest computer company. Digital was also considered by IDA Ireland to be one of its big successes and was therefore used to attract further prestigious Foreign Direct Investment into Ireland.
There can be no doubt that Digital’s achievements helped Apple, Microsoft, Intel and many others in their decision to set up in Ireland. The presence of these companies later made Ireland the obvious choice for Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter et al to establish European headquarters in Ireland.
Mike always managed to carry out his responsibilities with a smile on his face and often a twinkle in his eye. He was a man with a mischievous sense of humour and also one who could enjoy a joke when he was the victim. He was in no hurry to remove the slogan “Old and cunning beats young and eager every time” which someone once wrote on his office whiteboard.
He is still remembered fondly by his peers. Former Digital VP Frank McCabe remembers him as “A great professional - but also great fun to be around”. Bruce Ryan, a member of the US start-up team in 1971, saw Mike as “A key contributor to the successes of Digital in Ireland” who along with people he hired in later years, “laid an important part of the foundation for the Celtic Tiger”. Bruce, who kept in touch with Mike from across the Atlantic, added “He was definitely one of the good ones and marvellous fun to be with”. Others remember him as “A unique personality”, “A fine gentleman” and “A true gentleman”.
Mike is survived by sons Billy and Michael, his sister Rose (Fitzgerald ), brothers George and Liam and seven grandchildren. He is buried in the graveyard at St Peter and Paul’s Church, Crecora, Co. Limerick.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.
