End of era at the Longford Leader as Margie retires after 44 years

Last Friday marked the end of an era at the Longford Leader as sales consultant Margaret Faughnan retired after 44 years of dedicated and loyal service.

Leitrim native Margie crossed the threshold of the Longford Leader office door on the Market Square back in September 1978, and by her own admission, “little did I think I would still be here forty-four years later.”

On her final day, colleagues past and present, and customers paid a number of tributes to Margie in recognition of her immense contribution to the media company.

Margie had the distinction of working for all of the five owners of the Leader starting with Eileen Farrell and her son Lucius, who were the daughter-in-law and grandson of newspaper founder - JP Farrell. The late Eugene McGee then took over in 1983 following a 9 month closure due to an industrial dispute.

After many years at the helm, Eugene, and his co shareholders in the business sold it to Scottish Radio Holdings, before Johnston Press entered the Irish media market, acquiring the Leader in 2005. The current owner is Malcolm Denmark and he purchased the business in 2014.
She reflected, “Over all those decades I witnessed huge changes in the way the paper is produced and nowadays, because of the emergence of various media platforms, the paper has had to move with the times and keep up with this fast moving world.

Fortunately, we are part of a large group of newspapers, because in today's challenging world it would be virtually impossible for any ‘stand alone’ paper to survive.”
Margie recalled how in the 1970s and 80s, the local paper was the primary means of obtaining the local news, from court cases, to land for sale, what entertainment was on that weekend, to our famous and varied classifieds.

“I still smile when I think of the ‘where to find the man who made wheels for wheelbarrows’ or ‘who had a black ass for sale’ or ‘where to find a clutch of chickens’ - all were available via the Longford Leader classifieds.

“Our entertainment section would run over three broadsheet pages featuring all the venues in our catchment area, like Rakish Paddy or Murray's in Tashinny who could have big names like the Dublin City Ramblers or Wolfe Tones and the revellers would travel for miles to attend those venues.

“In Longford town then you could always depend on the late John Reynolds or his brother James to bring all the big names to The Fountain Blue and Blazers nite club. At Christmas it wasn't unusual for Blazers to host in excess of 3,000 people on any one night and the ballroom could have another 1,000.” Margie said she worked with some wonderful people over the years and have made lifelong friends with many. “Of course some other colleagues have gone to their eternal reward and we remember those people with great fondness.”

Everyone at the Leader wishes Margie happiness and health in her retirement.