Mark O'Hanlon, a former executive for Irish Thoroughbred Marketing, has died at age 52 following a short illness. O'Hanlon specialized in international markets during his time at ITM, specifically Italy, the Middle East, Singapore, Russia and Morocco.
Michael O'Hagan, former chief executive of ITM, led the tributes to O'Hanlon yesterday, telling Racing Post, “Mark originally joined as our rep in Italy as he lived out there, but the more I got to know him the more I realized he was wasted looking after just one country. He was always just a great right-hand man to have on your team, a top man to have. He did what had to be done and he did it in his own quiet way–he was a gentle giant.”
O'Hagan continued, “Before joining us he worked for Goresbridge. After I saw him in action I asked [director] Martin Donohoe if we could poach him. He got on well with everyone he dealt with, and when you walked into the sales, you looked for Mark–he was the obvious go-to guy.”
A funeral mass will be held Mar. 3 at noon at the Cathedral of the Assumption in Co. Carlow.
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