John O'Callaghan: John O'Callaghan, who has died aged 72, was a former Belfast and London correspondent for RTÉ during the worst of the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
He had previously been the Belfast correspondent for the Guardianbut had taken the courageous step of resigning over what he saw as the newspaper's interference with his reporting. With his Irish roots, he had a sensitivity to the nuances of Northern Ireland politics, which put him at odds with his editors.
He was born in Croydon, south London, of Irish parents on December 3rd, 1934. His father, who was from Cork, had served in the RAF at the end of the first World War and later worked for the customs service. His mother came from Co Clare and worked in the British revenue service until she left to take full-time care of John and his two brothers, Gerald and Vincent.
O'Callaghan won a scholarship to Trinity College Cambridge, but decided to do his national service first. Short of stature and something of a free spirit, he was probably a rather incongruous figure in the royal artillery. He was posted overseas to the Suez Canal zone in 1955, a year before the British and French invasion there. When medals were later offered for that campaign, he showed no interest in receiving one.
Back in Britain, he studied English literature under the famous critic, FR Leavis. During his Cambridge years, he joined the university air squadron and had some narrow escapes as a pilot.
After a stint as a trainee journalist on the Croydon Advertiser, he joined what was then the Manchester Guardian in 1960. He moved to the London office in 1967 and was noted for his lively and colourful reporting. He was also for a time the newspaper's motoring correspondent although he disliked cars. British car manufacturers regarded his criticism of their products as unpatriotic.
O'Callaghan also reported from abroad and one of his assignments was to cover the civil war in Nigeria in 1968, when Biafra declared independence. In an interview with the Biafran leader, Gen Ojukwu, he urged him to change his policies, but to no avail.
After Biafra, he found himself covering the outbreak of violence in Northern Ireland. This led to his resignation from the Guardian, whose obituary on him describes his departure as being "on an issue of principle, a very unusual course of action for one of the paper's journalists".
The obituary went on: "In common with some outside the office, he felt that the scale of injustice in Northern Ireland was underestimated and the nature of Irish republicanism misunderstood. The paper's traditions and collegiate handling of internal debate failed to reassure him that his copy would survive unscathed. He gave up the job he loved and it was a loss to both sides."
This was in 1972, one of the worst years of violence. After a spell of freelancing, O'Callaghan applied for the post of Northern correspondent for RTÉ and was successful.
He was noted for cycling around the streets of Belfast reporting on IRA and loyalist violence. He also drove a battered car and is known to have startled a caretaker at a rubbish dump when he drove up, took his bicycle out of the boot and rode off, abandoning the car.
Fionnuala O Connor and David McKittrick, who worked for The Irish Timesin Belfast while O'Callaghan was there for RTÉ (they also shared the same building), recall him as a "highly individualist voice in a large corporation who though not originally from Northern Ireland pitched himself into the Northern job, first as a reporter, later as Northern correspondent, with exceptional energy and commitment. He gave RTÉ headquarters many a spirited argument, but he was generally popular with his immediate colleagues who enjoyed his laconic style and particularly admired the wit and grace he brought to any task which allowed him to write."
O'Callaghan later transferred to RTÉ's office in London. According to Maeve Binchy, who worked there at the time with The Irish Times, he was "an amazing guy" who was great company. He liked to entertain guests with his own cooking, serving a collection of exotic liqueurs instead of wine. He was also keen on ballroom dancing and was proud of his dahlias. Aidan Hennigan, who was then London correspondent for the Irish Press, recalls O'Callaghan's generosity in helping out fellow reporters.
He was also noted for his traditional Catholicism and love of debate on religious matters. He once hired a train to take a group of like-minded Catholics to a celebration of the Tridentine Mass in Latin.
O'Callaghan retired from RTÉ in 1986 and after some freelance journalism went to live in France. When he later returned to England, he lived in London, Bath and then York. He died last month after an accidental fall and is survived by his brothers, Gerald and Vincent.
John O'Callaghan: born December 3rd, 1934; died March 23rd, 2007.