Brian O’Flaherty will always be remembered as a loving family man, with a witty sense of humour and a keen interest in history and newspapers.
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His wife Adrienne and his daughters Olivia and Antonia were the love of his life and his proudest accomplishment.
A family-man to the core, Brian loved his daughters dearly - celebrating their achievements and milestones and planning their next steps. He loved knowing about what they were up to, planning the next visit, chuckling at their exploits and keeping up with the latest photos and news.
Brian was especially proud of all the things his daughters were achieving in their personal and professional lives.
He was old-school, witty and intelligent, and ‘quiz-master’ smart with a story or memory for any occasion.
Brian is very loved and admired – as much for his kindness and loyalty as his sheer professionalism.
- Paul Bell
Brian Anthony O’Flaherty was born on February 26, 1957, in Dublin, Ireland, to Catherine and William O’Flaherty.
His father was a builder, and Brian was an only child.
The family moved to London when Brian was just three years old. He started his schooling at St Thomas Fisher Grant, a Catholic school, and lived in London until he was 10 years old.
From there the family moved to Ireland for six months, before moving to Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) briefly and then South Africa where they were based in Johannesburg and Brian completed his schooling.
During school Brian loved his drama class and theatre clubs and would always write plays and comedy. They were based on history, with Brian’s firm love ingrained in his stories.
When he was 14 years old Brian started work at a clothing store where he would fold the ‘slacks’. His wage was under $5 and he would spend it at the movies after he finished the Saturday shift.
After finishing school Brian worked for a few months as a bank teller, while waiting to gain a cadetship at The Rand Daily Mail.
This cadet position started his amazing career in journalism and newspapers.
He taught me how to write a story about the dullest of subjects and make it riveting.
- David Capel
Starting out as the night crime reporter, Brian moved up the ranks to become the youngest deputy editor at the paper. During his time at The Rand, Brian was heavily involved in its anti-apartheid campaign. He was chosen by his mentor as the man to meet informants during the night with a photographer and driver, and carry the secrets back to the paper. He earned himself the name ‘The Bag Man’. There were many times they weren’t sure if they would be coming home from work that night.
Brian lived in an apartment complex during this time and would burn confidential documents in his kitchen, all the while knowing government informants lived in the same complex.
After the closure of The Rand Daily Mail in 1985, Brian and his close friend Paul Bell worked for a short time at a PR firm until 1986 when he migrated to Australia in February.
He worked as a sub-editor at the Melbourne Sun before moving to Western Australia in 1987 where he worked as the deputy chief of staff, night editor and deputy editor. It was here, on a blind date, disguised as a Pictionary evening, his editor set up to meet her friend, that Brian met Adrienne Miller.
Their friendship blossomed into a romance and Brian and Adrienne were married on June 30, 1990 at the Christ Church in Perth.
Brian and Adrienne moved to Papua New Guinea in July 1990 when Brian was appointed as general manager / publisher of The Post Courier. In 1992 he transferred to the Fiji Times.
There would not go a day without his humour and a great laugh, his stories about his experiences in journalism will always be remembered.
- Fiji Times publisher Hank Arts
It wasn’t until 1996 he was transferred back to Australia, and his twin daughters Antonia (Toni) and Olivia (Liv) were born.
In 2002 Brian resigned from News Limited, and in 2003 Brian and Adrienne moved their family to Harvey Bay where they opened a book shop.
In December 2010 they left Australia and headed back to Fiji where Brian worked for the Fiji Times.
They left in 2012 and moved to Dubbo, where Brian worked as the Group Managing Editor and the editor of the Daily Liberal.
Brian’s love of journalism was infectious. His daughters said they grew up living off the crusade stories, stories about bringing down the government and bringing about justice.
Brian loved photography, though always behind the camera, and he was a great fan of the Electric Light Orchestra and The Beatles.
Brian loved to read, and always tried to encourage other people to pick up a book – though mainly his daughters.
He enjoyed watching the Wallabies and he loved his movies. He could practically recite verbatim any scene from Monty Python, Faulty Towers and The West Wing.
It wasn’t just the stories in the newspapers Brian was passionate about, he had a fondness for headlines and often gained inspiration from his favourite books and songs. Every newspaper he worked at had at least one headline playing on the words ‘the rain stays mainly on the plains.’
Brian will be remembered always by his family, friends, colleagues and those who knew him.