Alec Cooke, Baron Cooke of Islandreagh - an appreciation
by Michael Maclaran
Alec Cooke was a remarkable man. I had the benefit of knowing
him through family connections and through many hours of
conversation. Alec's father, Victor Cooke, was working for the
Asiatic Petroleum Company in Shanghai when he met a
missionary-school worker from Worcester, Massachusetts. After a
whirlwind romance and a marriage performed by the American Consul,
the couple returned to Greenisland, Co. Antrim, and Victor took
over the Springvale Bleaching Company.
Alec was born in October 1920, less than two years after the ending of the Great War, the eldest of three sons. He was educated at Mourne Grange School, Kilkeel, and at Marlborough College, and went on to Trinity College, Cambridge. Apparently Alec took a great interest in homemade explosives and School Reports were not always of the usual kind. Broken windows in New Court and devastated chestnut trees at Cambridge were amongst the consequences-early signs, no doubt, of his life-long interest in energy. Despite the outbreak of World War II, he was persuaded to finish his degree and only failed to get a rowing Blue because the boat race was cancelled due to German air raids.
He graduated with an honours degree in Mechanical Sciences and in 1940 joined the Royal Navy as an Engineering Officer serving in the North Atlantic, the Mediterranean and the Far East. His favourite recollections from this period concerned his cruiser Euryalis which was commanded by a Captain Bush. The greatest threat to the ship was from German dive bombers. Bush realised that altering course after the release of the bombs was ineffective but that rapid changes to the ship's progress ahead or astern caused the bomb-aimers to miss. Alec fettled the great steam boilers and control gear in the cruiser's engine room and drilled his crew again and again until the process of going from full ahead to full astern or vice-versa could be accomplished in seconds. Proceeding at half ahead, Bush waited until he could see the bombs which had actually been released, and with his sportsman's eye, determined which instruction to shout to Alec in the engine room.
The great accelerations produced were well outside the design limits of this class of vessel and caused the ship practically to stand on her ends, but Alec told me with glee that she was the only cruiser to leave the Mediterranean at the end of the war under her own steam.
Bush must have had great confidence in Alec. His other favourite tale of the period is of berthing in Valetta harbour. Entering at full astern, without tugs, towards a corner berth, other ships' companies and bystanders watched agog as the cruiser rushed towards the quay and the catastrophic collision that looked inevitable. At the very last minute the engines went full ahead and the cruiser stopped elegantly alongside, whilst people in the waterfront cafes and houses began the task of pumping out the thousands of tonnes of seawater which had been washed onto the quay from the ship's propellors! Demobbed in 1946, Alec returned to Greenisland. Whilst his brother John took over the bleachworks, Alec joined the firm of Henry R. Ayton whose owner required a bright young man to manage the business. Amongst the many engineering products which Ayton's handled was steam equipment for the linen industry and other applications. Alec became Chairman of Aytons in 1955 and retired in 1989.
In 1951 Alec married Alison Casement and in due course they had a daughter, Sally, and two sons, Michael and James. Their busy lives left the Cookes less time for recreation than some of their contemporaries as Alec began to play an increasingly large part in public affairs. However it was a happy family life, and caravan holidays in Donegal and skiing in the Alps, in which they often generously included a number friends, provided relaxation.
Sailing trips in their own and in other peoples' boats showed Alec to be a skilful navigator as well as an expert marine engineer, although one crewman is alleged to have remarked that Alec was taking his interest in navigation a bit too far when he sailed up to Ardnamurchan lighthouse in dense fog. He was invited to become a member of the Irish Cruising Club.
One of Alec's early appointments was to the Northern Ireland Tourist Board on which he served between 1958 and 1965. He also became a director of Northern Ireland Airports between 1970 and 1985 and was much involved in the development of Aldergrove Airport.
He was appointed to the Senate of Northern Ireland for eight years from 1960 and was highly effective in the scrutiny of legislation coming before Parliament, particularly in the fields of Energy, Industry and Transport. He became Chairman of the Belfast Savings Bank in 1963 and was a Belfast Harbour Commissioner between 1968 and 1979. He joined the board of Harland & Wolff in 1970, was Chairman 1980-1, and retired in 1987. In this latter role he fought hard to sustain the independence of this key Belfast employer and equip it to survive the global changes which overtook the shipbuilding industry. Other roles included a spell on the Board of Hollywell Hospital and Northern Ireland Economic Council, as well as Deputy Lieutenant and High Sheriff of County Antrim. Many of these appointments took place against a background of very serious civil disturbances, a violent security situation, and great economic difficulties-and it must be recognised that it took tremendous courage and determination to maintain such a public profile during this period. His contribution to industry was recognised with an OBE in 1981.
By the mid-1960s the future of the linen industry was uncertain and Alec proposed that Springvale should diversify into the manufacture of expanded polystyrene for insulation and packaging purposes. The existing availability of water and steam encouraged him and this far-sighted development paved the way for a new period of prosperity and expansion for the company. He became Chairman in 1964 and worked full time in the company from 1989. Such was the expertise of 'Mr Alec', as he was known at the works, that the German manufacturers of the production equipment used to consult him on their own designs.
It is fair to say that Alec was political without being a front-line politician and he used his considerable influence to ensure the progress of others and to advance the Northern Ireland cause. He was forceful without being belligerent and used his considerable charm to promote his aims. Despite his wide connections he was genuinely surprised when he was created a Life Peer in 1992 and it is an indication of his modesty that he was at first uncomfortable with the title. However, despite the travel burden which this imposed, he became an frequent attender at the House of Lords, and was a regular contributor on matters for which he was well briefed, particularly Northern Ireland, energy, and marine subjects.
Often describing it as the most fascinating of all his appointments, Alec became a Commissioner of Irish Lights in 1983 and was Chairman between 1990 and 1992. All his diverse experience came together and enabled him to play an outstanding role in that organisation. His connections with Harland & Wolff were invaluable when arranging emergency repairs to one of the lighthouse tenders; his knowledge of the corridors of power were vital in dealing with financial matters and political proposals for change; and he played an enormous part in the specification and procurement of a radical new design of the ships now used by a number of General Lighthouse Authorities.
I was a fellow Commissioner for much of that time and we shared the driving on the almost weekly trips to Dublin. It is amazing how quickly a three hour car journey goes when you are in the company of someone as interesting and as entertaining as Alec. Our conversations were wide-ranging and diverse but I always learnt from them.
He was an early-adopter of technology such as computers and mobile communications, and he kept abreast by taking soundings from his extensive network of contacts. He also saw the funny side of modernisation: as a Fellow of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers he was entitled to the appropriate letters after his name but he chuckled at the computerised mailing list which sent him letters which began 'Dear Mr Fimeche'. I have used the words steam and energy several times. I can't help feeling that these elements, so central to his career, also describe this remarkable person. The large number of people who attended his memorial service, many of whom travelled great distances, was surely an indication of their admiration and affection for Alec and of their feelings of sympathy and support for Alison and other members of the family.
I give the last word to a Queen's Island worker who said, when asked about Alec's suitability as the new Chairman of the shipyard, 'No Better Man'.
Alec was born in October 1920, less than two years after the ending of the Great War, the eldest of three sons. He was educated at Mourne Grange School, Kilkeel, and at Marlborough College, and went on to Trinity College, Cambridge. Apparently Alec took a great interest in homemade explosives and School Reports were not always of the usual kind. Broken windows in New Court and devastated chestnut trees at Cambridge were amongst the consequences-early signs, no doubt, of his life-long interest in energy. Despite the outbreak of World War II, he was persuaded to finish his degree and only failed to get a rowing Blue because the boat race was cancelled due to German air raids.
He graduated with an honours degree in Mechanical Sciences and in 1940 joined the Royal Navy as an Engineering Officer serving in the North Atlantic, the Mediterranean and the Far East. His favourite recollections from this period concerned his cruiser Euryalis which was commanded by a Captain Bush. The greatest threat to the ship was from German dive bombers. Bush realised that altering course after the release of the bombs was ineffective but that rapid changes to the ship's progress ahead or astern caused the bomb-aimers to miss. Alec fettled the great steam boilers and control gear in the cruiser's engine room and drilled his crew again and again until the process of going from full ahead to full astern or vice-versa could be accomplished in seconds. Proceeding at half ahead, Bush waited until he could see the bombs which had actually been released, and with his sportsman's eye, determined which instruction to shout to Alec in the engine room.
The great accelerations produced were well outside the design limits of this class of vessel and caused the ship practically to stand on her ends, but Alec told me with glee that she was the only cruiser to leave the Mediterranean at the end of the war under her own steam.
Bush must have had great confidence in Alec. His other favourite tale of the period is of berthing in Valetta harbour. Entering at full astern, without tugs, towards a corner berth, other ships' companies and bystanders watched agog as the cruiser rushed towards the quay and the catastrophic collision that looked inevitable. At the very last minute the engines went full ahead and the cruiser stopped elegantly alongside, whilst people in the waterfront cafes and houses began the task of pumping out the thousands of tonnes of seawater which had been washed onto the quay from the ship's propellors! Demobbed in 1946, Alec returned to Greenisland. Whilst his brother John took over the bleachworks, Alec joined the firm of Henry R. Ayton whose owner required a bright young man to manage the business. Amongst the many engineering products which Ayton's handled was steam equipment for the linen industry and other applications. Alec became Chairman of Aytons in 1955 and retired in 1989.
In 1951 Alec married Alison Casement and in due course they had a daughter, Sally, and two sons, Michael and James. Their busy lives left the Cookes less time for recreation than some of their contemporaries as Alec began to play an increasingly large part in public affairs. However it was a happy family life, and caravan holidays in Donegal and skiing in the Alps, in which they often generously included a number friends, provided relaxation.
Sailing trips in their own and in other peoples' boats showed Alec to be a skilful navigator as well as an expert marine engineer, although one crewman is alleged to have remarked that Alec was taking his interest in navigation a bit too far when he sailed up to Ardnamurchan lighthouse in dense fog. He was invited to become a member of the Irish Cruising Club.
One of Alec's early appointments was to the Northern Ireland Tourist Board on which he served between 1958 and 1965. He also became a director of Northern Ireland Airports between 1970 and 1985 and was much involved in the development of Aldergrove Airport.
He was appointed to the Senate of Northern Ireland for eight years from 1960 and was highly effective in the scrutiny of legislation coming before Parliament, particularly in the fields of Energy, Industry and Transport. He became Chairman of the Belfast Savings Bank in 1963 and was a Belfast Harbour Commissioner between 1968 and 1979. He joined the board of Harland & Wolff in 1970, was Chairman 1980-1, and retired in 1987. In this latter role he fought hard to sustain the independence of this key Belfast employer and equip it to survive the global changes which overtook the shipbuilding industry. Other roles included a spell on the Board of Hollywell Hospital and Northern Ireland Economic Council, as well as Deputy Lieutenant and High Sheriff of County Antrim. Many of these appointments took place against a background of very serious civil disturbances, a violent security situation, and great economic difficulties-and it must be recognised that it took tremendous courage and determination to maintain such a public profile during this period. His contribution to industry was recognised with an OBE in 1981.
By the mid-1960s the future of the linen industry was uncertain and Alec proposed that Springvale should diversify into the manufacture of expanded polystyrene for insulation and packaging purposes. The existing availability of water and steam encouraged him and this far-sighted development paved the way for a new period of prosperity and expansion for the company. He became Chairman in 1964 and worked full time in the company from 1989. Such was the expertise of 'Mr Alec', as he was known at the works, that the German manufacturers of the production equipment used to consult him on their own designs.
It is fair to say that Alec was political without being a front-line politician and he used his considerable influence to ensure the progress of others and to advance the Northern Ireland cause. He was forceful without being belligerent and used his considerable charm to promote his aims. Despite his wide connections he was genuinely surprised when he was created a Life Peer in 1992 and it is an indication of his modesty that he was at first uncomfortable with the title. However, despite the travel burden which this imposed, he became an frequent attender at the House of Lords, and was a regular contributor on matters for which he was well briefed, particularly Northern Ireland, energy, and marine subjects.
Often describing it as the most fascinating of all his appointments, Alec became a Commissioner of Irish Lights in 1983 and was Chairman between 1990 and 1992. All his diverse experience came together and enabled him to play an outstanding role in that organisation. His connections with Harland & Wolff were invaluable when arranging emergency repairs to one of the lighthouse tenders; his knowledge of the corridors of power were vital in dealing with financial matters and political proposals for change; and he played an enormous part in the specification and procurement of a radical new design of the ships now used by a number of General Lighthouse Authorities.
I was a fellow Commissioner for much of that time and we shared the driving on the almost weekly trips to Dublin. It is amazing how quickly a three hour car journey goes when you are in the company of someone as interesting and as entertaining as Alec. Our conversations were wide-ranging and diverse but I always learnt from them.
He was an early-adopter of technology such as computers and mobile communications, and he kept abreast by taking soundings from his extensive network of contacts. He also saw the funny side of modernisation: as a Fellow of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers he was entitled to the appropriate letters after his name but he chuckled at the computerised mailing list which sent him letters which began 'Dear Mr Fimeche'. I have used the words steam and energy several times. I can't help feeling that these elements, so central to his career, also describe this remarkable person. The large number of people who attended his memorial service, many of whom travelled great distances, was surely an indication of their admiration and affection for Alec and of their feelings of sympathy and support for Alison and other members of the family.
I give the last word to a Queen's Island worker who said, when asked about Alec's suitability as the new Chairman of the shipyard, 'No Better Man'.