Lecturer, columnist, author and commentator, Fennell was also a gifted linguist

President leads tributes to essayist, author, broadcaster and Irish language activist

Unthinkable: We’re at a point in history ‘between two civilisations’, argues Desmond Fennell

Irish socialist thinking has moved on very little since the foundation of the State

‘The single greatest tragedy in Ireland today is the absence of a free press,’ says Marcus deBrun

‘Gaeltacht brio’ of first event recalled

‘We need to see that there are different ways of looking at the world to that served to us by the mass media, which is necessarily pretty banal,’ argues Desmond Fennell

Desmond Fennell recalls his innocent wonder at the ‘real, the true, the venerable’ Santa, the mysterious ‘Arabian Nights’ glitter of the Belvue tram and the comforting magic of a twilight stroll through the suburbs of Belfast

His books sold and continue to sell in the tens of thousands, while hordes of ‘Heaneyboppers’ flocked to his readings