A tour of honour worth taking

Irish Politics: The Festschrift is a problematic genre. When a cohort of scholars decides to collaborate on a book to honour a fellow, there are bound to be diverging views on its scope, scale and focus.

When the subject's life and work are as multi-dimensional as those of Brian Farrell, the editors' task becomes even more difficult.

The contributors to this publication range from academic colleagues of Brian Farrell (both at UCD and elsewhere) to the Chief Justice, Ronan Keane; to a former taoiseach (Garret FitzGerald); to the State's first ombudsman, Michael Mills; to media practitioners Stephen Collins and Peter Feeney. The collection makes a broad sweep through Irish public life. The title may be a little misleading. There is arguably more here about the Irish administration than there is about Irish politics.

Brian Farrell has at least three professional personae: as an academic, as a broadcaster, and as a man of the public sphere, discharging functions as varied as chair of the Arts Council and chair of the National Media Awards. The 15 essays in this publication do not fully reflect all of these, concentrating as they do primarily on Irish political/ administrative institutions and structures and to a lesser degree on aspects of the Irish media.

Joint editor Maurice Manning, in his brief introduction, unhesitatingly gives primacy of place to Brian Farrell the scholar, the teacher and the pioneer (along with the late Basil Chubb) of comparative political science studies in Ireland. The central work of his life has undoubtedly been his publications, starting (in 1971) with Chairman or Chief? The Role of Taoiseach in Irish Government and The Founding of Dáil Éireann: Parliament and Nation Building. Two years later, he published The Irish Parliamentary Tradition.

These early publications were to prove a boon for students of Irish politics. Texts were few and many sources of information that are today taken for granted simply did not operate. The study of political science as a subject was very much a minority choice; its methodology and purposes were widely misunderstood. Much of the great body of scholarship that now exists - and that grows annually - is grounded on the pioneering work of Brian Farrell. He set out the framework within which many scholars and researchers have subsequently worked.

Much of this is reflected in the contributions to this publication which have been prepared by a younger generation of political scientists, now in their prime, but for whom Farrell was a role model and teacher.

Tom Garvin writes of the creation of the Irish political elite. His definitive 1922, The Birth of Irish Democracy (1996) has filled out many of the issues and followed up many of the trails marked out in The Founding of Dáil Éireann and to some extent The Irish Parliamentary Tradition.

John Coakley revisits some critical elections - 1885, 1918, 1922 - that predated the emergence of Ireland's contemporary party system. Peter Mair ('De Valera and Democracy') explores the reasons why democratic values prevailed in Ireland at a time when they were collapsing in so many other European states - including Italy, Spain, Germany, Austria, Portugal, Lithuania and Greece.

The scale of evolution of Irish political studies since the sparse 1970s is reflected in other contributions. Richard Sinnott writes about the funding of referendum campaigns. Bridgid Laffan explores the relationship between Irish government and European governance. Niamh Hardiman writes about the funding of the Exchequer - paying for government.

Ronan Keane writes about the little-known role of the first governor general, Tim Healy, in the saga of the Boundary Commission in the years 1924-1925. This is arguably the most stimulating contribution to the publication, throwing new light (certainly for this reviewer) on the character and role of the man who was tasked with lubricating the strained relations between the new Free State government and a weak, uncomprehending administration in London.

Brian Farrell's persona as a journalist and broadcaster is acknowledged in three essays on aspects of contemporary media.

Political correspondent Stephen Collins (himself a former student of Farrell) contributes an informative chapter on the parliamentary lobby system. He outlines usefully the differences between the Westminster lobby system and that operating in Leinster House.

Peter Feeney, head of public affairs at RTÉ, writes under the heading 'Government and Broadcasting: Maintaining a Balance'. Jean Blondel writes discursively about the changing role of journalists under the heading 'The Best Newsmen we Can Expect?'.

In Garret FitzGerald's essay on 'The Role of Taoiseach' and Michael Mills's 'The Office of the Ombudsman in Ireland', there is arguably more of description and less of the dissection promised in the book's title. FitzGerald sketches some of the contending influences from different elements in an administration which a taoiseach is obliged to weigh and assess in coming to a position.

It is difficult to achieve consistency in a publication such as this. Some contributors will be willing to put forward material that is original and therefore the more valuable. Others may simply rework themes that they have expounded elsewhere. This Festschrift features both. One or two perhaps border on the eccentric. And there are some that offer new and original insights. Taken as a whole they comprise a rewarding tour d'horizon of Irish public life.

• Conor Brady is a former editor of The Irish Times