Brian Farrell had a healthy scepticism of politicians but was never cynical about politics

They say you should never meet your heroes. In my case, they were wrong.

As a teenage politics obsessive, I got to meet the megastar that was Brian Farrell in my Leaving Cert year when he chaired a school debates competition for Mental Health Ireland. Before the event, I had assumed that it was the power of television itself which gave him such a sense of authority in the studio but, in the flesh, he had the same glamour, gravitas and competence. Every word in his opening and closing remarks that night had been carefully chosen. His personal courtesy to all after the event was instinctive.

Many of us who studied politics in UCD in the following years were drawn there by the magnet that was Brian Farrell. His television work meant we knew his capacity as a communicator and his comprehensive and complex understanding of the Irish political system. We were also soon to appreciate his skills as a teacher and his impressive publications as a political scientist.

Nowadays, when political biographies and memoirs are a staple of the bestsellers lists, and academic journals, online politics and history blogs are numerous, it is difficult for modern students to appreciate the impact of publications from pioneering political writers like Brian Farrell.

Farrell’s short but insightful biography of Seán Lemass, published in 1983 was, for example, a real gem. It was grounded not only in Farrell’s own direct observations of politics in the Lemass era but also in extended interviews with many of the former taoiseach’s contemporaries.

Academic publications

Farrell’s academic works on the foundation of Dáil Éireann and the Irish parliamentary heritage, both published in the early 1970s, have similarly stood the test of time. They continue to shape analysis as we approach the century commemorations of these formative events for our State.

Chairman or Chief?, his 1971 book on the role of the taoiseach in the Irish system, was seminal in the study of Cabinet government even before such studies had been done in more established democracies.

For someone of my geographic and economic background, being able to go to college in UCD in the 1980s was incredible, to be able to study politics there was phenomenal, and to have Brian Farrell among the teachers was beyond wildest dreams.

Belfield's 500-seater Theatre L was full for Farrell's lectures on the Irish political system. He clearly put as much preparation into these as he did into presenting Today Tonight three nights a week.

I can hear his distinctive voice giving insights on the pathways to parliament through local government; on the remarkable stability of our political system notwithstanding its violent origins, Civil War and 30 years of the Troubles; on how choosing not to vote is a political action with consequences; and on how frustrating the role of the backbencher was in the political process.

I recall in particular how, in his end-of-year lecture in 1987 on the topic of Jack Lynch, Farrell warned that, less than a decade since Lynch left office, any assessment of his effectiveness as a leader could only be tentative. Those tentative observations were more than borne out by later studies.

Potent lecturer

Farrell was even more effective as a teacher in smaller groups. His third-year course on political communications, focusing on how news organisations choose what political events to cover and how to cover them was an early master class in modern media.

As a professor, Farrell was generous with his time. He instantly agreed when asked to write a foreword to my first book of election statistics and promptly delivered handwritten copy. It was an honour to be in studio with him for the coverage of the 2002 general election – the last in his almost four-decade career fronting the coverage of political occasions.

At the end of his career, Farrell also worked as director of the Institute of European Affairs, where his significant contribution included hosting and later editing for publication a series of talks by former taoisigh and Irish European commissioners, at which they recounted their engagement with Europe’s institutions.

Brian Farrell had a healthy scepticism of politicians but was never cynical about politics. He was always courteous but never deferential.

Above all he had a deep sense of the democratic authority held by the people and assumed the role of being their voice in studio.

There have been only a few since who can claim to be as good a broadcaster or academic or teacher. There have been none as good at him at all three. He had a truly unique skill set.