Tyrone editor with strong Fermanagh links reflects on career

Wesley Atchison, former Editor of The Tyrone Constitution, laughed as he quipped that he was “a 'Con’ man for 46 years and never arrested” when he spoke this week to The Impartial Reporter.

It was a meeting with former Impartial Reporter Editor, the late Mervyn Dane, at a career’s fair that sparked an interest in journalism for Wesley. He added: “He was a legend in his own right.”

Wesley, an Old Portoran, spoke of how having finished his A-Level exams on a Friday, he began his role as a junior reporter at 'the Con’ the following Monday in July, 1974.

Born at Gillygooley outside Omagh, Wesley moved to Ederney aged 10 when his parents bought a business outside Ederney in the mid-1960s. He lived there for 30 years before moving to Omagh upon his marriage to Karen Steele, a Kesh native.

Wesley Atchison and his wife Karen, formerly from Kesh, pictured at a Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace during Wesley’s year as Sheriff for County Tyrone in 2019.

He progressed to Deputy Editor, and subsequently became Editor in January, 1995, before retiring in August, 2020, having spent his entire journalistic career spanning 46 years with the newspaper.

Shortly after his elevation to Editor, horror struck on August 15, 1998 when 29 people, including a woman pregnant with twins, were killed as a result of the Omagh Bomb.

It was a challenging week for Wesley and all the staff at 'the Con’. He said: “Knowing victims added to the challenge.

“I remember going late out of the office, a couple of nights after the bomb, and there was a shop called Watterson’s, and sadly, they lost three members of their staff.

"Someone had put 29 candles outside the shop, and a man was sitting on his knees at these candles, praying.

"I went down and put my hand on his shoulders, saying nothing, because there was nothing to say.”

Wesley Atchison, who was awarded a BEM in the Queen's New Year Honours.

Wesley also reflected on some of the lighter moment in his career, with one such anecdote about a goose.

He said: “One of my first stories that I did was about a goose – a goose that lived on a farm at Lack. My father told me about it and it had reached the ripe old age of 24, and I thought that it was a world beater.

"I wrote this story for the paper, and the very next day after the paper had come out, a very irate woman rang the office and asked for who had written the story, and told me in no uncertain terms that her goose was at least 26 years old!”

Wesley has also been heavily involved in the community, including serving as Tyrone High Sheriff in 2019, and he is an active member of the Omagh Rotary Club. He previously served as president of the then Omagh Junior Chamber.

In his younger days, he was an active member of the Young Farmers’ Clubs of Ulster. He held posts as Kesh YFC leader, County Chairman, and subsequently was elected as Vice-President of the overall NI organisation for three years.

Of the organisation, he added: “Young Farmers gave me a greater confidence in myself.”

Other endeavours included organising the first Kesh Carnival. Wesley added: “I was a founding member, and I took summer holidays to help organise it.”

Wesley was recently awarded a BEM for his services to journalism. He added: “I have been amazed by the number of people who have written to me and sent cards. It has been lovely, and it is wonderful to feel appreciated.”

He revealed that he received his letter from the Cabinet Office on the day after a recent surgery at the South West Acute Hospital (SWAH).

He is particularly grateful for the care from the SWAH and Irvinestown Health Centre, and added: “I have nothing but good words for the care and kindness I have received through the NHS.”

Wesley plans to enjoy his retirement alongside his wife, Karen, and walking with his "retirement walking companion", Darcy – a Kerry Blue Terrier.

Wesley pictured with his ‘retirement walking companion’ Kerry Blue terrier, Darcy during a day out at Castle Archdale