How did you get to know Jim Dunne?

I bluffed my way into see Jim, when he was editor of Business & Finance magazine. I had no business qualification and wasn't interested in business journalism. I just wanted a job. Two to three questions into the interview it was clear I didn't know anything about business.

After I'd done a story for him he said, right, you're on. He hired me as a business reporter not knowing one end of a balance sheet from another. There's only one way to describe it: fear. For a rookie, I wasn't just given the safer things to do. He let me loose on more challenging stories. When I made my mistakes he encouraged me to do more. He really did take a bit of a risk, but I don't think I dropped the ball too often - and he was there to catch it if I did.

What made him remarkable?

He would be considered a maverick, but he had a terriffic way and forged good relationships. He used to hold court in the Unicorn [restaurant]. Dublin business really revolved around the social scene of the time. He was the trusted confidante of a number of business figures. He was very sensitive . . . he'd get a lot of stories, but the key thing was knowing which ones he'd need to sit on. He was open to ideas, thinking outside the box.

What's a good example of that open thinking?

He realised at that time that motoring advertising was the key to the magazine. We lost our motoring correspondent at one point . . . whose job it was to drive cars on away trips. Jim said to one reporter, "I want you to be motoring correspondent."

He replied, "Yeah. But. You know I don't drive?"

That turned out to be John Kielty, who was later with NCB stockbrokers, and a sign of Jim's ability to spot talent. John was an affable kind of guy. A good guy to have on trips for the magazine, building those kinds of relationships [with potential advertisers]. That just took a bit of guts. It could have spectacularly backfired. [Kielty learned to drive at night while getting to grips with the job. ] How did he help you to get your big break?

He copped on I was pretty organised and he allowed me to do a lot of the organisation around the office. He promoted me at a young age, championed me. This woman can be the news editor, deputy editor. Jim left to go to the Irish Times in 1987 and I became editor. But it was quite a struggle. Management did not think a woman . . . or somebody my age . . . should become editor. But Jim paved the way for his successor. He wasn't into any of that misogyny. Quite the opposite. In the end, though, it wasn't an easy path. Because he had good relationships with the MD, he pulled me through. Back then I was the only female reporter. I'd go to functions and be the only woman there. A chairman would begin an AGM, "Gentlemen. . . and lady". But it was never an issue for me [as a reporter] because Jim did see beyond that. I did get the editorship and it went downhill. I only then appreciated how much of a buffer Jim had been.

Did he continue to be a mentor later on when you co-founded the 'Sunday Business Post'?

The four of us who set up the Business Post [O'Toole, Frank Fitzgibbon, Damien Kiberd and James Morrissey] had these clandestine meetings. I'd left [B&F] at this stage. Jim Dunne spotted us, but the story never got out. I used to meet him for lunch [when they launched the paper] and he was encouraging and supportive from afar, while a lot of our cynical colleagues were saying, "they'll all come acropper". In recent years he'd fallen into ill health but decided to engage in a letter-writing campaign to former colleagues, these amazing lettters. He still had the inside track on a lot of media stories.

What's the most valuable lesson he taught you and how do you apply it in your current role?

The value of developing good contacts and good relationships.

Like a lot of services businesses, you have to work on your network, harvest your contacts for business gain. I probably do it and not even know I'm doing it.

Jim had the little black book to die for. He had the in with Tony Ryan, for example. They were both from Tipp and he'd go for pints with Ryan. He'd maintain a good relationship. Know when to run a story and when not to run a story. To network and use your contacts and know the limitations of that. When you go out and meet somebody, he told me from the start, make sure you keep the contact up. That was very valuable. It's one of the reasons people remembered Jim fondly. He touched a lot of people like that. He was the acceptable face of business journalism.