John Irvine:John Irvine, who has died aged 82, was one of the last of a distinguished generation of senior civil servants whose inventiveness, managerial skills and integrity played a role in rousing Ireland from its mid-20th century torpor that has only recently received relatively belated acknowledgment.
Born the eldest son of nine children in Moneyglass, Co Antrim, the family moved in 1925 to a Belfast home, the upper storey of which overlooked Crumlin Road jail. As a teenager there, John recalled Éamon de Valera being pointed out to him while exercising in the prison yard.
Despite excelling as a student at St Patrick's Christian Brothers School, the lean economic times bore harshly on his father's small printing business, and John was unable to take up the university education he had hoped for. After passing entrance examinations for both the British and Irish civil service, he served briefly in Manchester, but returned to Ireland to take up a position with the Department of Posts and Telegraphs in Dublin.
His abilities were recognised early, becoming private secretary to the then minister, PJ Little. He proceeded to the position of controller of the Dublin postal district, from which he was seconded to Radio Éireann in 1960, becoming deputy director general of what is now Radio Telefís Éireann, a role he occupied until his retirement at the age of 61.
In the development of the fledgling television service, the introduction of FM radio and Radio na Gaeltachta, and in extending the initially inadequate site acquired by the authority at Montrose in Donnybrook, his influence was pivotal in the development of Irish broadcasting over that crucial period.
Most of all, he was determined that the agency should maintain an appropriate level of independence within its public statutory position.
He was as effective in gently rebuffing overtures towards a more partisan approach from successive governments of different complexions as he was in courteously sticking to his guns in an exchange with Archbishop John Charles McQuaid, over which that redoubtable prelate had mentioned invoking the power of the pulpit if his wishes were not acceded to.
Then followed a period with Irish Distillers, under the leadership of his friend Kevin McCourt, involving the amalgamation of the various production and distribution properties, and the introduction of what has since become the Irish Whiskey Museum at the Old Jameson Distillery.
Relishing a final professional challenge in his retirement, an initial involvement through the Vincent de Paul Society with what was then the Royal Hospital for Incurables in Donnybrook led to him becoming chair of its board of governors in 1981.
He was viewed there by Prof Helen Burke in her 1993 history of that institution as the chief architect of the modernisation of Dublin's oldest hospital.
He married Cecily Reid in 1942, and their dedication in raising a young family, together with his ever-increasing work commitments, still left time for shared enthusiasm for Irish art, bridge and golf.
A lover of the Irish language, his fluency remained to the end of his days, and he recalled with enormous affection visits to the Aran Islands.
His travelling curiosity was not limited to these shores and his family recall far-ranging, continental holidays, not merely to the more accessible countries, but behind the Iron Curtain, when doing so in a small packed car in the 1960s was intrepid indeed.
Tall, courteous and widely read, he retained both his distinctive Antrim accent and the wry sense of humour characteristic of those parts.
He was described accurately by Prof Burke in her history of the Royal Hospital. "He was a marvellous man," she wrote, "the quintessential public servant, wise, fair-minded and understated, with a genuine concern for human kind and a quiet determination to build a better world, a model for us all."
John Irvine is survived by his wife Cecily, their sons Ian and Gerard and daughter Mary, having been predeceased by his eldest son, John.
John Irvine: born 1925, died January 2nd, 2008