A Little Bit About Us
A family-owned newspaper for a family readership

FROM the very beginning in October 1949 to the present day, the Mourne Observer has been synonymous with the Hawthorne family name. That is why the newspaper has always given top priority to meeting the demands of a family-orientated readership. It is also why staff members - a considerable number with more than 25 years' experience behind them - feel themselves to be part of an extended family, sharing each other's joys and tears down the years

The paper was launched 55 years ago by the late Jim Hawthorne, a man with a wealth of experience in local newspapers. After more than two decades at the helm, he stepped back a little in the 1970s and early 1980s as his son, Will, gradually took over the day-to-day running of the paper.

Sadly, the Hawthorne family suffered a terrible blow in February 1984, when Will, then aged just 43, died while playing rugby for his beloved Ballynahinch Evergreens. Jim Hawthorne, although shattered by his son's death, emerged from semi-retirement to resume control of the Mourne Observer and to groom his younger son David as his successor.

The respect in which the man known far and wide as "The Boss" was held in Northern Ireland newspaper circles and beyond was evident when, in 1996, he passed away following a stroke and the newspaper was flooded with messages of condolence. He was five weeks short of his 83rd birthday.

In the final decade of his long and rewarding life Jim Hawthorne had refused to sit back and take it easy. Instead, with an eye to the future he drove the newspaper on, overseeing the introduction of new technology.

The transformation of the Mourne Observer in 1989 to its present tabloid-style format - coincidentally in the year the paper celebrated its 40th anniversary - was a tribute to his single-minded determination to look after the best interests of its many readers.

The Mourne Observer, with David Hawthorne at the helm, continues to keep that eye on the future, with the introduction of full colour on a number of the pages arriving during the golden anniversary year of 1999, and with this internet edition following in the early years of the 21st Century.

Although Jim Hawthorne missed out on those more recent improvements, we know he would have given them his full support.