GAA Site
The members of the Ulster GAA Writers’ Association have been stunned with the sad news of the unexpected death of their great friend and mentor Brian Houston, a man whose tremendous work for our Association has been instrumental in its success since its foundation 20 years ago
‘Housty’, as we affectionately knew him, in his role as Public Relations Manager of Bass Ireland, was approached about sponsoring the UGAAWA that was about to be formed in 1988. He immediately showed enthusiasm and talked to his superiors about the proposal.
They agreed and since then the Ulster Brewery, through various products, has financially backed us. Twenty years is a long, long time for a sponsorship.
When Brian took early retirement from the Brewery last year he continued to act in a consultancy role with the firm, with one of his responsibilities being our sponsorship. That delighted us greatly as he was always working extremely hard for our promotion.
His enthusiasm and hard work for our annual banquet and our monthly award scheme made life easy for us. Neither will ever be the same again without ‘Housty’s’ infectious laugh, jokes and funny jibes. At the time of his shock death he was working daily on this year’s banquet, making sure that our 20th anniversary get-together would be the best ever.
In the early hours of Sunday, October 28 Brian collapsed and died at his home in Bangor. We were all shattered as Brian was far above being our sponsor – he was a personal friend of all our members. He was like a member of our family – like a big brother to us all.
‘Housty’ we will
miss you greatly and our Association will never be the same without your
input and your presence. Life, in general, will never be the same. May you
rest in peace.
