The late Letterkenny businessman Fintan Houston is set to receive a lasting tribute in his hometown.
Mr Houston, who passed away in 2022, is credited for raising millions for charities.
He was instrumental in securing the installation of universal play equipment at Ballymacool Park for children with special needs.
Two of his greatest causes were Temple Street Children’s Hospital and Crumlin Children’s Hospital.
In honour of his work for children, councillors of Letterkenny and Milford have agreed to name one of the town’s children’s play areas in his honour.
The proposal, put forward by Councillor Jimmy Kavanagh on behalf of Fintan’s long-time friend, Pádraig Ó Ruanaí, received full support at the Municipal District meeting held today.
The specific play area to be dedicated to Fintan will be decided in due course and a plaque will be placed in the chosen area.
From a business perspective, Mr Houston will be remembered as one half of FM Cleaning Services which he set up in 1994 with wife Marie.
Fintan’s remarkable life achievements, as written by Pádraig Ó Ruanaí, were recounted to councillors today.
Born in Letterkenny in 1949, Fintan was a remarkable figure known for his entrepreneurial spirit and extensive voluntary work while living with a disability in his later years.
In his early twenties, Fintan co-founded Jackie Houston and Sons Limited, a crane and digger hire business. This venture, which also operated a successful quarry in Churchill, employed around 160 people.
After a severe brain haemorrhage in 1983 left him unable to work and financially devastated, Fintan, with his wife Marie, established FM Cleaning. Starting with their teenage daughter Annette, this contract cleaning business grew and today employs 200 people.
Upon retiring from FM Cleaning in 1997, Fintan devoted his life to charity. His fundraising efforts span across countless charities locally and nationally.
In 1987, when Fintan enrolled his daughter in the newly formed Letterkenny Community Gymnastics Club, he immediately set about lobbying for the upgrading of the equipment, some of which is still used today.
He founded the annual Crumlin Children’s Hospital Golf Classic which raised around €110,000, and organised numerous big fight nights, American Country Nights and co-organised the Annual Letterkenny Set Dancing Festival for various causes.
A standout initiative was his organisation of annual charity parachute jumps at Donegal International Airport from 2012 to 2017, which is estimated to have raised €500,000 for various causes. He also played a key role in the SNAP (Special Needs Adapted Playground) project and led the refurbishment of Ballaghderg Special Needs School.
Despite having a permanent disability of his right arm and hand, he learned to ride a three-wheeled motorcycle for a 4,000-mile charity tour of California and twice parachuted from an aeroplane – even with a fear of flying!
