In the late 1960s my friend Noel Tobin, who has died aged 80, and his wife Gerry became deeply concerned about the fatalities and life-changing injuries inflicted on both children and adults by fireworks.
In 1968, hospital A&E departments treated more than 2,200 casualties over the bonfire party weekend. Families had to deal with terrible injuries, including lost eyes and limbs, and severe burns, caused by unregulated, careless or malicious use of fireworks. Enough was enough; as part of a group of young families, Noel set up a campaign (jointly with Mother magazine) and obtained 50,000 signatures for a petition demanding that the government should regulate the sale of fireworks and ban the most dangerous explosives altogether.
It took time to get MPs on board, but the campaign was ultimately successful. Over the years, thanks to Noel’s indefatigable drive as the campaign’s press officer, legislative changes were made that raised the age at which people could buy fireworks to 18, prohibited the sale of certain particularly dangerous fireworks to the general public; and introduced additional safety requirements, as well as mandated training for local authority firework displays. Noel lobbied ministers and MPs, travelling all over the UK meeting affected families, holding press briefings, and talking to manufacturers, trade bodies and community groups.
The son of Evelyn and James Tobin, Noel was born and educated by the Christian Brothers in Dublin, where his father was a detective sergeant in the Garda. Encouraged by his sister, Vivienne, he studied dance after school. In 1963 he travelled to London to train full time as a dancer, and met Geraldine Morrissey through West End theatre work; they married in 1966.
Gerry took on front-of-house management roles. I met Noel when I worked for her at the New theatre in 1968 and we soon became lifelong friends. As a father of two toddlers, Noel needed a regular income and, although he continued to work as a dancer, by 1969 he was employed in lighting at the Prince of Wales theatre on the big shows (at the time it was Promises Promises by Burt Bacharach). When a permanent opportunity arose at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in 1973, Noel took it and worked there until his retirement in 2007.
Noel also became a leading community figure in Covent Garden, as a member, and later chairman, of the Covent Garden Forum, which was set up in 1974 in response to plans to redevelop the area. Noel was one of those who helped to save the neighbourhood from the bulldozer and an enormous concrete conference centre. The Forum and the Greater London council Covent Garden committee produced a blueprint for a vibrant, creative and sustainable neighbourhood. This enabled Covent Garden to flourish and become the thriving place it is today.
The campaigning took its toll – Noel endured 15 years of poor health after a stroke.
He is survived by Gerry and their daughters, Natasha and Fiona.
