There’s something about historic, previously unknown film that gives it a special character – something like an old piece of carved ivory found at the back of a drawer. The Seven Ages of Noël Browne, broadcast on RTÉ the other night, had something of that about it, notably the considerable new footage of Browne himself. It was easy, looking at it, to recall the mesmeric effect he had on so many people – and also, perhaps, to forget the antagonism and bafflement that he sometimes evoked among his opponents, his critics, and even some of his supporters in each of the…

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