Dan Roddy, who has died at the age of 69, was a late entrant to UCD where he co-founded a radical student organisation at a time when undergraduates were taking to the streets of Paris and other cities in what became known in Ireland as the "gentle revolution".
Born in Walkinstown, Dublin, he grew up in an atmosphere imbued with his mother’s love of music and his father’s passionate interest in republican politics.
Schooled at Drimnagh Castle, he later lived by the principles of Christian socialism and throughout his life held firmly to the tenets of that philosophy.
On leaving school he worked as a clerical officer in Dublin Corporation before joining the ESB in much the same line of work.
With enough money saved for a degree course at UCD, his life took a dramatic change when he entered university to study for a degree in sociology and archeology.
Pending a planned move to Belfield, unrest was then simmering among students crammed into overcrowded premises at Earlsfort Terrace.
When students took to the streets of Paris in 1968, Roddy formed Students for Democratic Action with like-minded radicals such as John Feeney (later to become a controversial journalist).
The student group staged several sit-ins at UCD, including a 400-strong sit-down protest outside a meeting of the academic council over its refusal to recognise the Republican Club as a college society.
Besides supporting protest marches by the Dublin Housing Action Committee, Roddy organised a bus-full of students to protest outside the infamous Springboks’ rugby match against Munster in Limerick in 1969.
He was active in UCD’s Dramsoc and the college film society, where he was instrumental in introducing the works of then little-known foreign directors.
After graduation, he became a journalist and contributed feature articles to This Week, Nusight and Magill magazines. His short stories were published in David Marcus's Irish Press weekly series of 'New Irish Writing'.
In 1970, he married Carmen, now a novelist.
Two years later, having joined the Revenue Commissioners, he was appointed Inspector of Taxes in Limerick but continued to voice his socialist principles in articles contributed to Jim Kemmy's monthly newspaper the Limerick Socialist.
As a senior tax inspector, he was in the news when summoned to appear at a televised session of the Oireachtas Dirt Inquiry in 1995. Experiencing difficulty with the official presentation of events, he attempted to read a prepared statement questioning the exercise.
In 1995 his book The Irish Derby – An Illustrated History 1962-1995 was published, while in 2014 his interest in the Gothic was reflected in the critically acclaimed novel A Wander out of Time.
He is survived by his widow, Carmen, his children Michael, Gwen and Jeni, and his friend Audrey.