Ireland - Canada Chamber of Commerce Toronto

He has received more than 50 personal phone calls, e-mails and letters of congratulations. “It has really been amazing. I’ve just been blown away,” he says.

“Accepting awards is not my scene,” he admits, “but it’s such an honour to receive an award of this magnitude. I really could not refuse.”

Sean Murphy was born on January 21st, 1942 in Aughrim Street, Hanlon’s Corners, Dublin 7, an area of the capital city known as “Cow Town,” because of the thrice-weekly cattle markets that were held there.
His father, John Murphy, hailed from Gortnagree, County Kerry, between Glenbeigh and Cahirciveen, on the Ring of Kerry while his mother, Mary Josephine Mollin, was from Lynally, Screggan, Tullamore, County Offaly. John was a long time bus conductor with the CIE, while his mother had been a schoolteacher before settling down as a homekeeper.

During his childhood, Murphy served as an altar boy in the Church of the Holy Family on Aughrim Street, from the age of four until he was 18. He was also a soprano choir boy in the Palestrina Choir in Dublin’s Pro-Cathedral from the age of eight until his voice broke at the age of 13. Between 1947 and 1950 he attended St. Gabriel’s National School, and afterwards went to O’Connell’s Christian Brothers School on North Richmond Street.

Upon leaving secondary school, he was hired on by Bord Failte Eireann (Irish Tourist Board) as a temporary proof reader for their 1961 Hotel Guide. So impressed was the Board with Murphy’s work that he was hired on full time, in charge of Tostal (Festivals) and Special Events. In 1962, he left the company to gain international experience in London, where he worked for Fleet Travel, helping to meet the travel needs of the newspaper community on the famed Fleet Street.

He was lured back to Bord Failte by his mentor, Jim O’Brien. For the remainder of the 1960s, he was responsible for major travel innovations in Ireland, including helping to set up the Car Rental Council and the Coach Tourism Council. He was also instrumental in starting up the first direct, combined coach and ferry services between Glasgow, Manchester, London and other UK cities to Dublin. He was also key in helping set up the Intercontinental Ferry Line between Rosslare, County Wexford and Le Harve, France. He quickly moved up the ladder at the company, becoming an Assistant Special Events Officer in 1963, a Travel Facilities Officer in 1968, and then Assistant Access Transport Manager in 1972.

In 1976, Murphy was on the move again as Manager for the East Coast of the US for Bord Failte, settling in New York City, where he helped to increase charter and direct flights from the US to Ireland. Murphy again returned to Ireland in 1978 to become Trade Promotion Manager.

By the early 1980s, big changes were afoot though in Murphy’s life. Though he would once again leave Ireland, this time it was for good. In 1983, Bord Failte offered him the choice of either transferring to Sydney, Australia or Toronto, Canada.

“I picked the place that was closest to Ireland,” he recalls of his decision to choose Canada. So it was that Murphy arrived in Toronto on Canada Day 1983 as a sales manager for Bord Failte.

“I’d never been to Toronto in my life. And then I fell in love with the place. I had no intention of ever staying here. Two years later, the penny dropped. It was only supposed to be for a year, my assignment here,” he told the Toronto Irish News during a 2003 interview. Murphy recently added that “I have an awful lot to be thankful to Canada for, particularly for meeting my beloved Karen in 1983.”

The year 1989 would prove to be a monumental one for Murphy. He married Karen Whittaker on November 18th in Niagara Falls, and the reception was held in nearby Niagara-on-the-Lake, which would become one of Murphy’s favourite spots in the world. The couple’s honeymoon was, of course, spent touring Ireland.

On the business side, 1989 was also the year that Murphy took “early retirement” from Bord Failte and started the Irish Travel Bureau, which specializes in travel to Ireland. While he “adored Bord Failte,” the time had come to strike out on his own. The same year also saw Murphy buy Kemptville Travel from his wife’s parents. While he still presides as the president of Irish Travel Bureau Inc., and is also the Vice President of Kemptville Travel, he is quick to give credit where it is due.

“Without Karen Murphy, we wouldn’t have had a business worth having. She is the best thing that ever happened to me. We did everything together,” he says of his personal and professional partner.
For any new business, the early years can prove difficult, but the early 1990s proved especially rocky for the travel industry.

“There was the Gulf War, then a massive recession which didn’t ease off until 1995. So, we spent the first few years…teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, hanging on by our fingernails,” he remembered in 2003. Now however, their company is the number one seller of Canadian traffic to Ireland, sending several thousand visitors each year to both the Republic and Northern Ireland.

Looking back, he has seen many a crisis in the travel industry come and go. But the most persistent problem he has witnessed regarding travel to Ireland is the mandatory Shannon stop-over for all international carriers flying to the Republic. For Murphy, “my biggest regret is that we still have the Shannon stopover,” he says. “I think that it will be lifted before the current year is out. That is my final hope.”

Murphy points out that there is now year-round weekly air charter service between Toronto and Belfast and that “we’d have at least a weekly, maybe even a daily flight to Dublin from Toronto without the stopover,” by now.

Over the years, few Irish events in Toronto have not been touched by the support and help of Murphy and his company. His list of involvement in the community is impressive, from membership in the Irish Canadian Aid & Cultural Society to the Ireland-Canada Chamber of Commerce. His other memberships include the St. Patrick’s Day Parade Society, the Toronto Gaelic Athletic Association, the County Dublin Association and the Apostles. In 1996, Murphy received a “Community Award” from the Irish Canadian Aid & Cultural Society.

Numerous County Association and fundraising dances and dinners have witnessed his benevolence with prizes of “tickets-for-two” to Ireland. He has also been helpful in sponsoring the communities three Irish radio shows (Msrs. O’Loghlin, Benson and Straney), and other events such as the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, the Grand Marshal’s Ball, the Irish Person of the Year luncheon, the Ireland Fund of Canada’s St. Patrick’s Day luncheon, and the annual Rose of Tralee competition, flying Toronto’s latest Rose to Ireland for free.

Perhaps the reputation that speaks best towards Murphy’s warm and generous character and love for his community is the quiet work he does in helping countless Irish expats. who need to return back home suddenly for times of hardship or bereavement, with no regard to the cost.

While the awards hardware is a nice fitting tribute to all of his sterling work for the community over the years, it was the people behind the accolades that mean the most to Murphy.

“The biggest thing I want to say is a profound thanks to the community for nominating me,” he says with feeling. “Not only for the award, but for the friendships as well.”