Paddy Ginnane, a 'shining light' of Illawarra journalism, dies aged 95

Mr Ginnane worked at the South Coast Times and then the Mercury from the 1960s through to his retirement in 1988.

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In 1975 he was the co-winner of the Tim Mugridge Memorial Award for journalism.

His son Kevin said Mr Ginnane had been suffering from cancer for the last two months and was living at Marco Polo Aged Care in Woonona when he passed away on Saturday.

"He was a good father - always willing to help us with anything that we wanted," Kevin said, adding that journalism was "his calling".

Born in Dublin in 1927, Mr Ginnane worked for a newspaper in County Kildare before taking up a job with United Press in London.

In 1961 he emigrated to Australia with his wife and two children, after doctor's advice the climate would be better for the breathing issues he suffered from than England.

Moving to Wollongong, he soon started working for the South Coast Times, moving over to the Mercury when the papers merged.

Former Mercury editor Nick Hartgerink remembered being a young journalist when Mr Ginnane was in the newsroom.

"He was a great mentor to myself and others in the newsroom in those days," Mr Hartgerink said.

"He was very encouraging of young reporters. He didn't see anyone as a threat and was really great at passing on his knowledge.

"The lesson I learnt from Paddy was to be respectful of everybody and everybody's opinions. When somebody says something it's easy to dismiss it but Paddy never dismissed anyone's opinion, he was always really respectful of every point of view and reported every side of a story."

For a number of years Mr Ginnane was the Mercury's industrial reporter, a significant role in an era when the steelworks employed more than 20,000 people.

"It was very much a union town in those days," Mr Hartgerink said.

"He was just the most beautiful treader of the fine line between the unions and the rest of the town. He was a very gentle Irishman and had a lovely gentle manner.

"The union guys trusted him and the other side of town - the mayor, the business people - all felt the same way.

"He was so well-respected. He was really one of the shining lights of the Mercury in those days. Everyone in the town loved him, no one had a bad word to say about him."

Mercury journalist Bill Simpson had the tough task of following in Mr Ginnane's footsteps as industrial reporter.

"I took over that industrial round from Paddy and it took me a long time to get the trust of the union officials in particular," Mr Simpson said.

"Paddy had done it for so long and was so trusted it took me a long time to get their trust.

"He definitely would be the most respected journalists the Mercury has ever employed. You can probably say the most respected journalist in Wollongong."

Reporter Geoff Failes remembered always being able to seek out Mr Ginnane for advice about writing.

"He was quite a wordsmith, he was very good with words," Mr Failes said. "He could put something together that was very simple but very effective.

"He taught me quite a lot about how to write and how to get the right angle. I often talked to him about intros and getting his advice about how to tackle a story."

Mr Ginnane's funeral will be held on May 11, midday, at St Francis Xavier Cathedral.

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