Gillian Bowler: One of the smartest in the business

"Goodbye, Gillian. You inspired me," writes co-founder of The Sunday Business Post Aileen O'Toole

Gillian Bowler outside Budget Travel on Baggot Street in Dublin 2 PIc: Collins

Gillian Bowler was one of the first business people (note people, not women) in Ireland who knew the importance of media coverage to building a brand. In the gloomy 1970s and 1980s, when I was a business reporter and the only female among Ireland’s cohort of business journalists, I got the opportunity to interview her on several occasions.

Every newspaper, magazine, TV show or radio show imaginable featured Gillian Bowler. That wasn’t about ...