THE death has occurred of Sunday Independent Editor Aengus Fanning. Mr Fanning (69) was Ireland’s longest serving newspaper editor with 28 years at the helm of the hugely successful Sunday Independent.

The Tralee native was a former gaelic footballer for Kerry and was known for his passion for cricket as well as jazz music.

He passed away this morning after battling cancer.

He transformed the Sunday Independent into Ireland’s largest selling newspaper with an eclectic mixture of political and economic opinion columns, celebrity, gossip, features and fashion.

He introduced many new columnists including Gene Kerrigan, Ronan Fanning, Anthony Cronin and Brendan O’Connor propelling the Sunday Independent into the position of Ireland’s leading Sunday newspaper with one million readers a week.

Mr Fanning was a graduate of University College Cork and his family owned the well known local newspaper The Midland Tribune based in Birr, Co Offaly.

He is survived by his wife Anne Harris, deputy editor of the Sunday Independent and his three sons. He is predeceased by his first wife Mary.

The board of Independent News and Media PLC today paid tribute to Aengus Fanning.

“Aengus truly was one a kind, possibly the greatest and most instinctively brilliant editor that Irish journalism has ever produced,” said Independent News and Media CEO Gavin O’Reilly today.

“Not only was he absolutely fearless but he had an innate ability to read and understand both the aspirations and fears of the Irish people and it was this skill that allowed him embed the Sunday Independent into the very fabric of Irish society over almost three decades as editor.

“If you wanted to know what people were thinking of the big issues of the day or, indeed, what would be the big issues of tomorrow and next week all you had to do was ask Aengus.

“He is a huge loss to Irish journalism but an even bigger loss to his family. Our thoughts today are with Anne and his three sons, Dion, Evan and Steve.”

Aengus Fanning joined Independent Newspapers in the late 1960s as a general reporter before becoming Agricultural Correspondent. He comprehensively covered Ireland’s accession negotiations into the then European Economic Community.

He was then appointed News Analysis editor of the Irish Independent before being appointed editor of the Sunday Independent in 1984.

Under his leadership the Sunday Independent established itself as the biggest and most influential newspaper on the island of Ireland.