Lionel Walsh celebrates his 80th birthday

Lionel Walsh, former bureau chief in Bonn and Paris and one of the most distinguished foreign correspondents of his generation, celebrated his 80th birthday in style on Saturday, surrounded by family, friends and former colleagues from Reuters. 

Walsh, wheelchair-bound after a stroke five years ago, entertained his guests with tales of scoops in exotic places and many long lunches at a party in Chapeltown, near Sheffield, where he now lives in a care home.

Tributes flowed in from around the world, including one from former editor-in-chief Michael Reupke and another from former diplomatic editor Mohsin Ali. 

Walsh moved back to England from France last year to be nearer to his son and daughter, Terry and Theresa. He spoke of his deep love of France but thanked his family “for getting me back to Blighty. It was time… although I’ll never forget that flight on Ryanair.”

Walsh had been living in a care home in the Vendée region of France but found himself very isolated after the sudden deaths of both his wife Veronika and elder son Brendan. 

After retiring from Reuters in the 1980s, Walsh joined the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris as head of communications. Many of his former ICC colleagues travelled from far and wide to join the party, including first director Martin Wassell. The Reuters contingent included Michael Nelson, Steve Somerville, Bob Taylor, Jack Hartzman, Bob Hart and Tony Winning. 

Among the long lunch stories, Winning remembered one with Walsh at Chez Georges in Paris. Walsh had just arrived as the new chief correspondent and Winning was the news editor. “We had a few things to discuss,” said Winning. “We started at noon and had everything more or less sorted by 8 pm, when the dinner guests wanted our table.”

“I’m glad I got you into Reuters,” said Walsh.

PHOTO (L-R): Tony Winning, Steve Somerville, Michael Nelson, Jack Hartzman, Lionel Walsh and Bob Taylor. ■