One of Ireland’s greatest entrepreneurs, business leaders and philanthropists, Martin Naughton, passed away on 03 July at the age of 87.
He left a remarkable legacy; one that offers a north star to those who would aim for global business success while remaining rooted to their community and society.
University College Dublin and many of its students have greatly benefited from the generosity of Martin, his wife Carmel and their family to the University's educational and cultural community.
Born on 02 May 1939, Martin was educated in De La Salle College Dundalk. He studied mechanical and production engineering at the Southampton College of Technology, qualifying as an engineer in 1961.
In 1973, after 12 years as an industrial engineer, he founded the company Glen Dimplex.
Under his stewardship, the company, which started as a small factory with seven employees making heaters in Dundalk, County Louth, grew into an international conglomerate at the vanguard of the low-carbon revolution, with over eight thousand employees across four continents: Europe, North America, Asia, and Australasia.
Today, Glen Dimplex continues to have an exceptional national and global impact.
But Martin, the visionary business leader, also had another deep calling. He wanted to give back to the people and places which formed him. Martin was a great Irish philanthropist.
In 1994, Martin and Carmel founded The Naughton Foundation to support worthwhile causes in the arts and education across Ireland.
In 2008, the foundation introduced a scholarship fund for students in the Louth, Meath, Monaghan area. Over time, the scholarship expanded out to provide support to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) students across the entire island of Ireland.
The scholarship, which guarantees each awardee €24,000 over the course of their degree, has transformed, and will continue to transform, the lives of hundreds of students studying at UCD, and the lives of so many other students at other Irish Higher Education Institutions.
Through their foundation, Martin and Carmel also made possible the Museum of Literature Ireland (MoLI), a collaboration between University College Dublin and the National Library of Ireland.
MoLI, which is located in UCD’s original home, Newman House on St Stephen’s Green in Dublin, where James Joyce studied, opened its doors to the public in 2019. Martin was a lover of the writings of Joyce from his teenage years, and this inspired the foundation’s support for sharing Joyce’s legacy with current and future generations.
The generosity of Martin and Carmel in support of MoLI was recognised with the award to the foundation in 2021 of the inaugural 'Best Philanthropic Support to the Arts’ Business to the Arts award, supported by the Arts Council.
Through their foundation, the Naughtons have also donated to a number of other higher education institutions, including Trinity College Dublin and the University of Notre Dame.
In 2016, Martin was appointed a Knight of the British Empire and an Officier de la Legion d’Honneur of France - the highest French national honour - in recognition of his outstanding career, his dedication to the community, his deep friendship for France, and the active promotion of France-Ireland new initiatives.
In 2018, Martin, who served as the Chair of InterTradeIreland, the cross-border body established after the Good Friday Agreement to foster trade links between the Republic and Northern Ireland, was the first Irish honoree of the Oslo Business for Peace Award.
The award, selected by an independent committee of Nobel Laureates, honours “exemplary business leaders who apply their business energy ethically and responsibly, creating economic and societal value.”
The award was presented to Martin in recognition of his efforts to promote the role of the private sector in contributing to peace and environmental sustainability.
In 2025, the late Pope Francis conferred the honour of the Order of Saint Gregory the Great upon Martin and Carmel Naughton in recognition of their philanthropy in education and the arts.
Martin was also conferred with honorary degrees from University College Dublin, University of Notre Dame, Trinity College Dublin, Queen’s University Belfast, the University of Ulster Coleraine, Dublin City University and Griffith College Dublin.
Martin Naughton passed away on 03 July 2026, while travelling in the United States with his beloved wife Carmel.
He is survived by his wife Carmel, their three children Fiona, Neil and Fergal, and their extended family.
Ar dheis dé go raibh a anam dílis.
DM, MK
