Raymond Coyle, the former owner of Tayto Snacks which incorporated crisp brands such as Tayto, Hunky Dorys and Snax, has passed away at the age of 70.

Coyle was also the owner of the popular Tayto Park theme park located near Ashbourne Co. Meath.

Coyle set up Largo Foods in 1982 after being a supplier of potatoes at his farm in Curraha, close to the site of Tayto Park.

Largo Foods acquired the Tayto and King Crisps brands in 2006 in a €62 million deal.

Perri Crisps and Sam Spudz were two other companies acquired by Coyle under Largo Foods.

In 2007, Coyle sold a 15% stake in Largo Foods to the German snack company Intersnack.

He sold a further stake of 25% to Intersnack in 2015 before resigning from the board in 2016.

In more recent times Coyle has become famous for his multi-million euro investment into the Tayto Park theme park which opened in 2010.

The park was subject to an initial investment of €8 million from Coyle, which included the creation of a brand new crisp processing factory.

The park became home to the first wooden rollercoaster in Europe at a cost of around €10 million and it is one of the flagship attractions of the park.

The park employs up to 800 employees at peak times and annual visitor numbers to the park peaked at 700,000 in 2015.