Letterkenny shrouded in sadness following the passing of Damien Blake

One of Letterkenny and Donegal’s brightest and most innovative people, Damien Blake, has sadly passed.

Damien, 41, passed away at Donegal Hospice following a lengthy illness, survived by his wife Mary (nee Gallagher), son Riain, parents Denise and Laurence and brothers Ian, Aidan and Jason.

Damien was many things - easy-going, intelligent, positive and approachable - and was Letterkenny’s youngest-ever mayor, having taken up the role in June 2005, when he was aged just 22.

His array of skills brought him a position at Google in 2010, where he would become Communications and Branding Program Manager at their European HQ in Dublin. He and his family eventually settled in Curraghmone, Ballybofey.

A Leaving Cert student of St Eunan’s College in 2000, Damien was elected to Letterkenny Town Council in June 2004, serving a five-year term and was Mayor of Letterkenny for a year until June 2006, Deputy Mayor beforehand and chairman of Letterkenny Joint Policing Committee from June 2006 for two years.

Showing a keen interest in tech, Damien started building websites at the age of 13, and worked full-time through school and university, while earning a BSc degree in E-Business from the University of Ulster.

He was Digital Media Director of Strawberry Media, a company in the River Media group and managed all the online activities for River Media's 12 newspapers, and worked with external clients ranging from local businesses to national organisations.

Damien was also a part-time postgraduate researcher at Letterkenny Institute of Technology and joined the MBA programme at UCD Smurfit, having been awarded a scholarship in 2009, graduating with a first-class honours degree two years later.

Funeral details to follow.