RCSEd Saddened by the Death of Honorary Fellow Norman Irons
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It is with great sadness to share the news of the death of Honorary Fellow of the College and former Lord Provost of Edinburgh, Norman Irons.
The Times shares details about his life and all the great work and achievements he did over the years.
Guests awaiting the arrival of Edinburgh’s lord provost would, on occasion, see Norman Irons’s official car sweep up to the venue then abruptly wheel away round the block again. It wasn’t that the civic head was reluctant: he was working on the hoof, preparing a speech he would deliver without notes but that needed a few more minutes to finesse.
Such was his dedication to the city, his work and the people of his ward that he packed as much as he could into every day, scribbling his speeches in the car en route from his day job or a previous engagement, then committing them to memory before moving on to the next task. His diligence was impressive — despite having been born a Glaswegian, he worked every day of the year for Edinburgh, including Christmas.
Behind it all was an innate desire to help people, and throughout his working life he won a reputation for personal kindness and a willingness to assist others at any time. During his time as an honorary consul he once insisted on accompanying a vulnerable Hungarian man to catch a flight home, stopping at his own home to get a packed lunch for the traveller and sitting with him at the airport until he was able to embark. A letter of thanks from the passenger’s grateful family followed.
Irons with members of Royal Scottish Country Dance Society in 2018, at a reception given by the Edinburgh lord provost at the time, Frank Ross. Irons was an honorary vice-president of the society’s Edinburgh branch Irons with members of Royal Scottish Country Dance Society in 2018, at a reception given by the Edinburgh lord provost at the time, Frank Ross. Irons was an honorary vice-president of the society’s Edinburgh branch RSCDS EDINBURGH.
The dean of the Consular Corps in Scotland, Christoph Crepaz, put it succinctly: “His commitment extended beyond borders … his warmth, wisdom and willingness to collaborate were instrumental in creating a vibrant and supportive diplomatic community.”
Norman Macfarlane Irons was born in Glasgow but moved to Edinburgh with his parents, Dugald and Anne, when he was three months old. Educated at George Heriot’s School, where he would later serve on the board of governors, after studying in London and Edinburgh he qualified as a chartered engineer.
His working life began at the international engineering consultancy Steensen Varming Mulcahy Partnership, which in the 1970s worked on the Sydney Opera House. Then in 1983, along with a colleague, he set up his own practice, Irons Foulner Consulting Engineers, where he continued to work during his time as lord provost.
By this time his interest in politics was already well established. He had joined the SNP in the early 1970s and was elected councillor for the Drumbrae/Northeast Corstorphine ward of Edinburgh district council in a 1976 by-election, quite a feat as the SNP was then a minority party.
He represented the ward for 20 years, becoming the city’s first SNP lord provost after re-election in 1992. That vote saw the authority’s controlling Labour administration lose three seats, falling two short of the 32 councillors needed to control the council.
Irons made the Labour group an offer they ultimately couldn’t refuse: he and his fellow SNP councillor Derek Williams would support the Labour group in policy votes in return for Irons being made lord provost and Williams being given a convenorship.
The deal was eventually agreed and Irons, who was accused of being an egotist and of securing the role for personal gain, defied his detractors by becoming a highly respected ambassador for the city.
It was his proudest moment and also saw him become lord lieutenant. He relished the role hosting royalty and international heads of state, although he once turned ashen during a dinner at Bute House for the Princess Royal, on discovering he was to partner her for the first dance. Slightly rusty in the dancing department he just made it through the eightsome reel, royal toes still intact.
But he was equally at home in the company of Edinburgh residents and Christmas Day saw him visiting retired servicemen, care homes and parents with newborn babies in hospital.
In 1987 he made an attempt to become an MP, standing for the SNP in the Edinburgh West constituency. The seat was won for the Conservatives by James Douglas-Hamilton, with Irons, whose election agent was John Swinney, trailing in fourth.
He served as a councillor and latterly lord provost until 1996, supported by his wife, Anne, whom he met when they were teenagers and with whom he had a daughter, Elizabeth, who has her own hospitality consultancy, and a son, Kenneth, a partner and head of commercial property at the law firm Gillespie Macandrew.
A few years after he left office he was appointed consul for Denmark, on the recommendation of the late Queen’s former press secretary Michael Shea and Lord Steel of Aikwood, the former Liberal Party leader. He went on serve as consul for Hungary and was dean of the Consular Corps in Scotland.
Appointed CBE in the 1995 new year honours, he had honorary doctorates from Edinburgh’s Napier and Heriot-Watt universities and was an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. His consular work earned him the Commander with Star Royal Norwegian Order of Merit and the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Merit of Hungary. He was also made Commander of the Royal Order of Dannebrog in Denmark.
He was a director of the Edinburgh International Festival Society, the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo and Edinburgh’s Dynamic Earth centre. On the board of the city’s St Giles’ Cathedral Renewal Appeal Trust until his death, his strong faith saw him attend services there every Sunday, resplendent in his kilt.
His main hobby was rugby — he was a member of Heriot’s Rugby Club and had been a member, player and president of Lismore RFC — but he was also a voracious reader until Parkinson’s disease took its toll. Determined to help others to the last, a few weeks ago he signed consent papers donating his brain to a tissue bank at Imperial College London for research.
Norman Irons CBE DL, chartered engineer and politician, was born on January 4, 1941. He died from the effects of Parkinson’s disease on November 26, 2023, aged 82.
Source Link: The Times
The College is sorry for his loss and send our condolences to his friends and family during this difficult time.
