Brendan O'Reilly, who died in Dublin yesterday at the age of 71, was one of the best known personalities in Irish sport, first as an accomplished high jumper and later as an RTE television presenter. A man of singular integrity who was held in high esteem on either side of the Atlantic, he once cleared 6 ft 7 in at a meeting in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1956, at a time when the first seven-foot jump was but a distant aspiration for athletes around the world. O'Reilly, born in Granard, Co Longford, was a product of the late Jack Sweeney's school of excellence, and after spells with Guinness AC and Donore Harriers, he won a scholarship to the University of Michigan, where he studied drama. Controversially, he never competed in the Olympic Games. After winning a British AAA title in 1954, he achieved a qualifying standard for the 1956 Games in Melbourne, only to discover the Olympic Council of Ireland didn't have the funds to send him to Australia. His time at Michigan would stand him in good stead when RTE launched its television service in 1962. A member of the sports staff at Montrose, he also contributed occasionally to the Light Entertainment department, earning acclamation for the presentation of his variety show, The Life of O'Reilly.

Acknowledged as a gifted man of many talents, he wrote a number of songs, and, as an actor, was rated sufficiently highly to take the lead in a number of plays in his university days. Away from sport and drama, his abiding passion was the life and times of Michael Collins. He admired Collins intensely, and some years ago was invited to deliver the oration at the annual ceremony at Beal na Blath.

Brendan O'Reilly, whom so many of us were privileged to call a friend, is survived by his wife, Joanne, and four children.