Friday evening was a poignant but celebratory occasion for the many friends, family and colleagues of the late Howard Kinlay who died 10 years ago this month. Amid many fond reminiscences, Pat Rabbitte TD unveiled a plaque commemorating a much loved editor, activist and family man at the most fitting of locations - Kinlay House on Lord Edward Street, the student hostel named for him. Familiar to many as one of the most famous student radicals of the 1960s, Howard notched up several posts before even leaving college. In 1964 at the age of 21 he topped the poll to became Trinity College's first elected representative, a position he followed up with two terms of office as president of the Union of Students in Ireland (USI), dogged in pursuit of civil rights and student issues.
Together with Gordon Colleary he founded USIT, the student travel centre that still sends many students off around the globe, and served as both director and chairman there. After some time in RTE he worked for many years in The Irish Times, holding the position of features editor at the time of his early death in 1987. At yesterday evening's celebration, many people remarked on how well chosen the Thomas Paine quotation on the plaque was - "We have it in our power to begin the world again."